Double delight sends Hardy to BOTB Final

By Jordan Gerrans

Warwick horseman Steven Hardy has not experienced the highs of reaching a Battle of the Bush decider yet in his career and that is about to change in a big way. 

Hardy – who is enjoying a career-best season in the training ranks - has in the last couple of weeks qualified two gallopers from his team for the upcoming BOTB Final in the big smoke. 

He travelled north to Emerald to punch Este Dia’s ticket to the feature event earlier this month before Milton Road doubled the dose at Nanango on Saturday afternoon. 

The 44-year-old Hardy is naturally thrilled with the way his stable is firing ahead of a maiden tilt at the BOTB decider. 

“It is nice when a plan like this comes off,” he said.

“It is easy to plan things like this, but when they come off, it's very exciting. And, to be honest with you, it is a relief that it's come off with both of them.

“We earmarked this race with Este Dia about six months ago and Milton Road has been planned this way for a long time.

“I have never attempted to have a runner in the series before now.

“Hopefully both horses can get in well with their weight and be competitive when we get to town.”

Big grey gelding Milton Road came to Hardy’s barn at Warwick already on a BOTB mission. 

The six-year-old was previously prepared by astute mentor Lindsay Hatch, who has recently stepped away from training his own team to be Tony Gollan’s assistant trainer at the Gold Coast.

Milton Road was busy on the country circuit for Hatch in the last stages of last year and in early 2026 to rack up the required runs to be eligible for the series. 

Since transferring to Hardy, the grey has recorded victories at Burrandowan and Nanango, with his latest triumph being in the BOTB qualifier on Saturday. 

“I'm very happy with him,” Hardy said.

“Lindsay was very helpful with any information about the horse, he's been great, actually, Lindsay. He is a very good man, it's a credit to him, actually.

“I've raced horses with one of the owners of Milton Road previously, Jason Benz.

“I've known Jason for a long time and that's how it's come about.

“The horse has been on a Battle of the Bush path since he arrived with me and that is why they originally bought him from Matt Dunn.

“He seems to be really happy at the moment the horse, he is a pleasure to train.”

Milton Road was a dominant winner at Nanango on Saturday with Hatch’s former apprentice Jess Emmerson piloting the sprinter to victory by almost two lengths. 

While the trip to Nanango was a relatively short one for the in-form Hardy, it was a different story to qualify Este Dia for the $200,000 event. 

Emerald is a serious hike from Warwick, but Hardy praised the way his gelding handled the long journey before also winning by almost two lengths.

The five-year-old gelding led all the way over 1200 metres. 

“It's a damn big job for Este Dia,” he said.

“He's done a lot of kilometres to qualify and to get the runs under his belt originally, because plan A and plan B didn't work out with rain and what not.

“We made the trip to Emerald, which was a big trip for us. He seemed to handle it really well, so I couldn't be more pleased with the horse, actually.”

The 2026 Battle of the Bush Final will be held on Tattersall’s Tiara Raceday at Eagle Farm on Saturday June 27, 2026.

Hardy is likely to give his two runners one more effort before the decider. He is tossing up if that is a barrier trial or a race, with the decision to be made in the near future. 

The Warwick-based conditioner has been training for a touch over a decade and is enjoying his beat season to date. 

Hardy has 13 victories to his name this term and is striking at 26%. 

His previous high mark for a season was four winners in the 2024-25 campaign. 

In other BOTB heats on Saturday, the Jay Morris-prepared Revolt won at Mount Isa, while at Mareeba, Bodine Bailey’s Impardoo scored as a short-priced favourite.