The old marvel Bulletproof Boy deserves respect
by Adam Hamilton
Scott Ewen left South Australia more than six years ago on the wings of his best horse, Bulletproof Boy.
Harness racing in Ewen’s home state was on its knees and a chance meeting at the once iconic Mildura Cup Carnival led to an offer to move to Victoria and train from a new complex at the Cranbourne track, about an hour southeast of Melbourne.
Ultimately, it was Ewen’s belief in a then emerging Bulletproof Boy to “take the next step” which gave he and wife, Kylie, the confidence to make the move.
Not only had Bulletproof Boy (Art Official out of My Riviera Girl by Red River Hanover) delivered, but he still is.
The 11-year-old is racing in career best form and recently won his 50th race.
Everyone loves a star veteran.
“What a godsend he’s been,” Ewen said. “If we didn’t have him, I don’t think we’d have made the move to Victoria. There wasn’t much more he could do in SA [South Australia], he deserved the chance to show it. He needed it.
“Things were grim in SA at the time, there was no light at the end of the tunnel.
“Melton and Victoria were booming at the time. Cranbourne had just opened its training center and a few people offered me four horses to train, along with my own, if I moved over.”
Ewen did hedge his bets a little.
He gave Bulletproof Boy a “tester” with a race at Horsham in country Victoria on Aug. 1, 2019.
“He won and went brilliant time and we moved to Victoria a month later,” he said.
Bulletproof Boy has won another 30 races since to take his career record to 222 starts for 50 wins, 30 seconds, 22 thirds, and $807,566 in prize money.
“He’s won about $700,000 of that since we moved,” Ewen said.
That said, Bulletproof Boy didn’t make the splash Ewen hoped in the first year in Victoria with just two wins from his first 18 runs from the Cranbourne base.
That’s when the family of part-owner and breeder Charles Okmasich, who died in early 2019, rang Ewen saying they wanted to sell the pacer after about a year in Victoria.
“He’d been South Australia’s 2YO of the Year and 3YO of the Year and then things got a bit harder and Charles’ family weren’t into it as much as he was,” Ewen said. “I understood where they were coming from, but I still believed in the horse and desperately wanted to keep him.
“So, I said I’d buy him, but with the costs of the move to Victoria and setting up, I had to ring around some long-time owners and friends to see if they’d take shares in him to help keep him.
“Many of them did, Kylie and I ended-up keeping 30 per cent and we’ve got the most wonderful group of people together sharing the amazing ride he’s given us and still is.”
One of them, the New South Wales-based Murray Clayton, rang Ewen the day after Bulletproof Boy’s 50th win at Melton on Dec. 20.
“He said, ‘I’m standing here on my Bulletproof Boy veranda, looking at my Bulletproof Boy barbecue… he’s built all this for me, Scotty,’” Ewen said. “He told me how he was in tears when the old boy won that 50th race.
“Financially, it would’ve been great if Kylie and I bought the whole horse, but then we’d have missed out on the thrill of racing him with all the great people with shares in him, like Murray. He’s changed our lives and he’s changed theirs, too.”
For all Bulletproof Boy’s success, which included wins in the 2021and 2023 Smoken Up Sprint, it’s been the past 12 months which has gained him a cult following.
As a 10-year-old, the gelding raced 20 times in 2025 for six wins, four seconds, four thirds, and earned $202,775.
The year started with a splash when Bulletproof Boy won the Bendigo and Ballarat Cup double last January.
But the headline win came much later, when he rocketed home to upset one of the world’s best pacers, Leap To Fame, in the Smoken Up Sprint on Oct. 11.
It was one of the biggest upsets in the modern era.
“For all that he’s done, it’s the win that really put him on the map,” Ewen said. “He deserved that and the respect it earned him. There’s been a few times he should’ve got a start in big races, but got overlooked.
“Lots of people couldn’t believe he didn’t get in the 2023 Victoria Cup after he won the Smoken Up the week before.
“Even last year’s Miracle Mile, he ran a terrific fourth in one of the qualifying races the week before and other horses got starts in the Miracle Mile ahead of him.
“But a win over Leap To Fame is a big thing to have on your CV. He’s as good a horse as I’ve ever seen.
“And beating him was the biggest thrill this old boy has given us. He got beaten in a trial just before the race and nobody gave him a chance, but he’s just a different horse at the races, always has been.
“I nearly fell over in the [home straight] when he got out and ran-down the champ.”
Ewen credits Bulletproof Boy’s career-best form renaissance to a few factors.
“One of them is ‘Herbie’ [driver James Herbertson],” Ewen said. “Look at his form since he’s started driving him regularly. He’s just a freak how horses run for him.
“He’s always had a wicked turn of speed, but it’s gotten even better since I put flip flops on him. He was so fast, he used to get on his bumpers, but now he doesn’t, he’s even faster.”
Buoyed by a huge 2025, Ewen is aiming for the stars this year.
It starts with a title defense in the Bendigo Cup on Jan. 10. It’s five years since he first contested the race and finished eighth.
“I know it’ll be a strong race again, but they’ve made it a sprint race [1,650 meters] and that’s right down his alley,” Ewen said. “If he draws well and can lead, he’ll run super time. He’ll break 1:50, maybe even get down to 1:49. It’s a quick track.”
Heading the Bendigo Cup will be new sensation, Kingman, who beat Leap To Fame in the Victoria and New Zealand Cups in October/November.
“Hey, we’ve beaten Leap To Fame, too,” Ewen said with a laugh.
The $250,000 Group 1 Hunter Cup at Melton on Feb. 14 and the $1 million Miracle Mile at Menangle on March 14 are other targets.
“He’s been in three Victoria Cups, but not the Hunter Cup yet,” Ewen said. “He was right on song last year after those Bendigo and Ballarat wins, but must have kicked a fence or something and took a chunk out of his hock and couldn’t run.
“It’s made me even keener to have a crack at the Hunter Cup this time.
“The Miracle Mile is the other one. He’s just such a fast horse, the mile racing really suits him. He ran so well up there last year and he’s going at least as well, if not better.”
