"I was ready to sort of hang it up and I started to do a bit of work with him (Bitofmerit) and I thought sh*t, we better hang on to him I think!" With injuries starting to take their toll on Campbell, who has undergone two spinal fusions, retirement was starting to come into the equation until he realised he might have a smart one on his hands. "There wasn't a lot of interest (in Bitofmerit), so we broke him in and then put the word out that he was for sale, and there still wasn't a lot interest. "The first one out of mare went pretty good (Black Dynamite) we sold that one and then the little sister went alright." The gelding is a homebred out of mare Beersheba Belle, whose progeny had some early success, including Black Dynamite, a winner of four of his first six starts.īut like his older sister Sally Can Wait, Bitofmerit was unwanted, fortuitously as it has turned out Campbell. The interest from buyers now is in contrast to when he was first available for purchase.
There's a 3YO 1100m race next Saturday and I've always eyed the 1200m off for the locally-bred ones on the 18th ( Westspeed Platinum Series Stakes)." "I'll just see how he comes up the next couple of days. Slightly jarred up, but otherwise very good." He said the Demerit gelding had felt the track given the firmness at this time of year, but otherwise had come through the race well. While Campbell will no doubt have some thinking to do regarding the offers, at this stage the plan will be to have the gelding back at the races in the coming weeks. "(Hong Kong interest) has been one and eastern states and one local one." so haven't put much thought into it (the offers) at this stage." "I've had a lot of interest in the horse since yesterday, so it must have been impressive." "It was quite massive," Campbell said of the performance. While it may have only been a Class 1 win at the midweeks on Wednesday, it was the manner in which he won that has left no one doubting he's well above average and has attracted the attention of buyers far and wide. It followed his debut win back in September where he defeated Buzzoom, who has since won the Listed Burgess Queen Stakes, by just over a length. Nick Hluchaniuk Bitofmerit has a fair bit of talent Image: Western Racepix There was no interest in Bitofmerit when he was put up for sale early days, but it's worked out for the best for owner and trainer Michael Campbell, with the three-year-old now hot property.īitofmerit made it two-from-two on Wednesday when he showed incredible dash over the final 200m to win a Class 1 at Belmont over 1000m by 2.37L.