‘The horse meant a lot to him’: Bosustow, named after late footy legend Peter Bosustow, on hunt for Group 1 glory
When Kingsford Smith Cup hope Bosustow steps out onto the track at Eagle Farm on Saturday, he’ll be running for much more than Group 1 glory.
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Shelley Bosustow was doing the ironing when she heard a loud, piercing scream.
Her husband, legendary former Australian Rules footballer Peter Bosustow, was years into a devastating cancer battle so she quickly raced to his side.
“One day I was ironing and all of a sudden he was absolutely screaming,” Shelley Bosustow told Racenet.
“I thought he was having a heart attack or a stroke.
“But it turned out he was cheering the horse home, the horse named after him, and he was jumping up and down like a lunatic.
“Peter had always been a mad racing man, right from when I first met him, he used to go to the trots a lot.
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“The horse (Bosustow) meant a lot to him every time it raced, in the final stages of his life.
“He was so excited every time it raced and he was always so keen to watch it.
“He loved racing, even right to the end he got sent tips from (Australian Rules legends) Stephen Kernahan and Dougie Hawkins.”
Bosustow, a three-year-old colt trained by Rob and Annabel Archibald, races in Saturday’s Group 1 Kingsford Smith Cup at Eagle Farm where he is an $8.50 chance.
After bolting to victory by six lengths in the Gold Coast Guineas last start, Bosustow is also one of the top betting picks for next month’s Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap, Queensland’s most prestigious race.
The young horse is honouring Peter “Buzz” Bosustow, the electrifying West Australian who won two VFL premierships with the Carlton Blues in the 1980s.
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Tragically, Peter Bosustow passed away in April after a long and gruelling cancer fight.
Not long afterwards, Shelley Bosustow felt the horse with the same name had help from above when it won the Gold Coast Guineas by as far as you could kick your hat.
“When it raced the other day, it bolted away, I am sure that Peter was riding the horse home from up above,” Shelley Bosustow said.
“He would have loved that race when it won on the Gold Coast, I sat and watched it and I just burst into tears.
“Anthony Mithen and his (business) partners name horses after former Aussie Rules footballers and one of our kids told Peter that there had been a horse named after him.
“Months later, Peter reached out to Anthony Mithen and said he was thrilled to hear about it.
“And he just kept following the horse and getting updates.”
Bosustow loves racing at @GCTurfClub! He dominates the Gold Coast Guineas for @ANeashamRacing 💪 pic.twitter.com/EWLkNGveYt
— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) May 10, 2025
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Mithen and his Rosemont Alliance stretched to $900,000 to purchase Bosustow as a yearling and the colt has already won more than $2m and established himself as one of Australia’s most exciting young horses.
The original plan was for him to race in Saturday’s Group 3 Fred Best Classic at Eagle Farm, a three-year-old race which offers the winner a golden ticket into next month’s Stradbroke.
But with Bosustow dominating his opposition last start – and virtually guaranteed of a Stradbroke start – connections raised their sights and will set the colt loose on Saturday’s Group 1.
Shelley Bosustow will be watching on TV from her home in Mandurah, WA, and remembering her late, great husband.
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“We knew the cancer was going to eventually get Pete, but it is always a shock when it happens,” she said.
“We are an extremely close family and his kids miss him terribly.
“Peter was sick for almost four years, it was rectal cancer but by the time they found it, it had spread to his liver.
“He stopped chemo last November for his own sake, because he had 61 rounds of it, seven hours at a time.
“And then he had heaps of radiation and all the other stuff you could possibly have.
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“He came down with jaundice in March.
“One Sunday morning, he was yellow.
“I got him straight to hospital and they put drains and stents in his liver, but a few weeks later he passed away.
“His liver basically just gave up on him.”
The racing business can be a cutthroat one, but it can also be deeply emotional and incredibly personal.
If Bosustow races up to them to fight out the finish on Saturday, the best bet of the day is there will be a late, great footballer giving it an extra urge from up above.
Originally published as ‘The horse meant a lot to him’: Bosustow, named after late footy legend Peter Bosustow, on hunt for Group 1 glory
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