Opie Bosson retires Aidan Rodley 27 December 2024 Opie Bosson, one of the greatest jockeys New Zealand has produced, has today announced his retirement from riding. Bosson, 44, leaves behind an incredible legacy in the sport, winning 99 Group One races in a glittering career which saw him inducted into the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame in 2023 and immortalised in the memorable "There's only one Opie Bosson" Boys Get Paid chant at the annual Karaka Millions meeting at Ellerslie. He was named an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) for his contribution to the thoroughbred industry in the 2023 King's Birthday and Coronation Honours. Among Bosson's biggest wins were the Gr.1 Australian Derby (2400m) and Gr.1 Caulfield Cup (2400m) aboard Mongolian Khan in 2015 and nine Group One wins on champion mare Imperatriz. "My association with Imperatriz was the highlight of my career. Horses like that don't come along every day and to be involved in her big wins in Melbourne is something I'll never forget," Bosson said. "Once she retired, it became a lot harder for me to keep going. She probably kept me going really. It's just the right time to hang up my boots now. I feel I've given all I had to give." Bosson was first apprenticed to Te Akau when his godfather Stephen Autridge was the head trainer, having joined the stable as a 14-year-old. He enjoyed a long and successful association with the David Ellis-led stable. "I've done 30 years and it's time for me to start working for a future after racing, something I can be happy in," Bosson said. "I've had some great times in racing, enjoyed a lot of success and made plenty of lifelong friends. I just want to thank all the owners and trainers who have supported me and for all the comradery from the jockeys I've ridden with and all the support I've got from the racing public all over New Zealand." Bosson brought up his 2000th New Zealand win aboard Move To Strike at Te Rapa in December 2023 and finishes with a career tally of 2146 wins, 2059 of those coming in New Zealand. He won 51 races in Australia, 16 of those at Group One level, as well as 31 in Singapore, including two Singapore Group One races that didn't count towards his international Group One tally: the 2007 Singapore Cup on Recast and the 2010 Singapore Derby on Dream Ahead. Bosson also rode in Japan, United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong, where he was successful on five occasions. Among those to pay tribute to Bosson was his long-time mentor and friend David Ellis CNZM. "Opie established himself as world-class, especially the way he rode Imperatriz. He's been a massive part of our stable," Ellis said. "He's had to battle weight problems throughout his career and for him to keep going as long as he did and with the success is a real credit to him. He's been a great friend and we'll never forget the success we've had together. "You think about the Karaka Millions winners we've had, Melody Belle, Avantage, Cool Aza Beel, Probabeel, Dynastic and before them King's Chapel right through to all the Guineas winners we've had together. He's been prolific, winning more than 50 Group One races for us. He's been a tremendously successful rider." Hall of Fame trainer Murray Baker rated Bosson up with the best riders he worked with. "He was the complete package," Baker said.    "He had a great temperament on a horse, was unfazed on a horse and just had great hands, a prodigious talent. He won three Derbies for us and a Caulfield Cup, among a lot of big-race wins. We had great success together and he'll be sorely missed in the riders' ranks."

Definitely in our top 3 ever riders. A great shame.  And to retire at NP is hugely anticlimatic.

I thought we were talking about NZ Racing..and TA in NZ is underperforming based on previous years when it comes to stakes winners...facts are facts.

Was down for 3 rides tomorrow at Rotorua, will this be his last 3 rides?  I read his post as he won't be riding tomorrow at all.

He may have had his personal issues but no doubt one of the best ever New Zealand jockeys, enjoy your retirement and lets hope you enjoy whatever you choose to do...thanks for all the great memories.

How many winners for Wexford in Melbourne this season? No doubt they're flying at the moment; (as mentioned) maybe the focus on NZ rather than HK is helping them and (as not mentioned) maybe the Te Akau focus on Melbourne rather than NZ is hurting them in NZ.

Champion NZ jockey Opie Bosson retires Posted by: JustHorseRacing at 12:54pm on 27/12/2024   Posted in: Horse Racing News, International Horse Racing      IMAGE: BRUNO CANNATELLI Champion NZ jockey Opie Bosson has announced his retirement from race riding on social platform X (formerly twitter) on Friday. Bosson’s journey in racing began under the guidance of his godfather, Stephen Autridge, where he started as an apprentice. His race-day debut came at just 15 years old, riding Comette at Dargaville on October 25, 1995. Not long after, he celebrated his first victory aboard Fairlie Airlie at Gisborne. His first Group 1 win was aboard Jezabeel in the 1998 Auckland Cup, aged 17. On September 2, 1998, Bosson secured Chris Waller’s first Australian victory by guiding Party Belle to triumph in a 2100m maiden race at Wyong. In March 2019, Bosson broke Lance O’Sullivan’s record for the most Group 1 victories in New Zealand, achieving his 63rd win when Melody Belle claimed the New Zealand Stakes at Ellerslie. Bosson is one of eight jockeys to ride over 2,000 winners in New Zealand.  

Happy retirement Opie Bosson 2059 Domestic wins 256 NZ Group & Listed wins 99 Group 1s  

My mum was right very hard to put brains in statues...😂...so you think the quality of their winners and the consistency of their runners is the same as previous seasons...then no point arguing with you as you have no idea.

The Fields for Banks Peninsular on Sunday, show that a lot of people want to stay local to race during the holiday season; The Emergency numbers per race are;   5-2-5 Nil 5-4-2-5-1-2-2-Nil,  obviously there are a lot of owners wanting to race now, even with the dilution of numbers to Southland, West Coast & Central Otago.

I am looking at the stats aka facts.  Te Akau is earning $8,500 per start Wexford $8,100. Te Akau have also picked up AU$1.4m in stakes in OZ so far this season from 55 starts.  A return of AU$25k per start. Overall over $4.5m in stakes. In NZ they're are actually tracking better than the last two seasons!  Hard to match last year in OZ with Imperatriz being a big contributor.

Me either 🤣

Easiest fix is to make the switch to Android 😀

Facts dont lie as to the quality of the winners...just look at the stats for the season...as I said before there are winners and then there are WINNERS...Wexford is getting most of the WINNERS at the moment.

I'm on an iPhone and have the same problem.  Haven't figured out how to access messages?

Great coverage of options John! It will be fun to follow during the course of the year 👍

Slightly off topic, but for those who enjoy a Sports Bet, I think the Renegades offer decent value at $6.50 in the BBL (in from $7.50 yesterday) A lot of firepower in the batting lineup and solid enough to cover things in the bowling. You get to follow your money for a few weeks too!

I think you are right and that Paul has a big influence behind the scenes.   They are the complete package with the quality of horsemanship and their communication.  Not to mention the quality and humility of the people including brother Lance - who is an ONZM by the way. 

Prizes: I'm putting up $200 and Phil (Alf Riston) has kindly offered to put up $100, so we'll have: $200 to the winner; and $100 to the runner-up Prizes in the form of a single bet (win, place or each way) with 50% of any collect going to the winner and the other 50% to the Huntington's Association. In the event of ties, the tie will be split by the entrant who picked the most Gallops winners (it is a racing site after all), then by the entrant who picked the most Football winners, then the most US sports winners.  If these don't split any ties we'll split the prizes in usual tie fashion.

oh okay Liz. You might have done so but by the looks of it you're on an Iphone, I'm on an Android/Samsung phone. Someone on here with more techical nous may be able to help further.