Injury Denies Cosmic Bonus Fairy Tale Finish

WHEN Evelyn Harris started to look back over the career of Cosmic Bonus for a highlight, she came across so many she started to lose count.

Cosmic Bonus tore a back muscle when favourite and on his way to victory in a 515 metre Masters event at Gosford on Tuesday night.

It ended his career.

And what a career it was!

From 149 race starts, Cosmic Bonus won a staggering 72 races. He was second on 26 occasions and third 17 times for stakes of $408,000.

He retires just two wins short of the record number of wins in Australia, standing at 74 with Saltwater Pete.

The son of Cosmic Rumble-Dark And Stormy was whelped in December 2014 and had been on the racetrack virtually non-stop since October 2016.

“For me the highlight was right back at the start when he won the Pop Northfield Maiden at Casino,” said Evelyn.

“He won by eight and a half lengths and it was such a huge thrill.”

But when Evelyn started to think about it, she came up with many more highlights in Cosmic Bonus' career.

“The night he ran 29.64 to win the Masters Meteor on Million Dollar Chase night was amazing,” she said.

“I was in a daze. People were shouting out to me as I walked back to the catching pen and I just wanted them to leave me alone. And to win the Gosford Gold Cup in 2018 was another huge thrill. Just an amazing animal.”

Harris also lists record breaking wins at Casino in 2019 as memorable.

“He ran the track record at Casino in March 2019 and then in July he broke it again,” said Evelyn. “That was something to remember as well.”

Cosmic Bonus has undergone DNA and his semen will be tested soon before he starts a stud career.

“We have been asked so often to use him at stud,” said Evelyn.

“Sam Cauchi once told me the first 10 bitches a stud dog gets is all important so Leonard and I want his first 10 bitches to be good.

“We already have a bitch lined up for him ourselves.”

Cosmic Bonus is known around the Harris kennels as Double Dot.

He is so popular, Evelyn was asked to take the dog to Casino for the final meeting at which recently retired chief steward Gail Thorsby officiated at.

“The stewards asked me to bring him along because he was Gail's favourite dog,” said Evelyn.

“I was happy to do that and we got a lot of photos taken of him with Gail.”

Evelyn says Cosmic Bonus has already been promised more than his fair share of chocolate and ice cream now that he is retired.

“He's a one in a million, a dog every trainer dreams about,” she said.