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By Brad Gray

Hugh Bowman has pegged I’m Thunderstruck a future star of Australian racing after he grabbed Count De Rupee in the final stride to win the $7.5m Golden Eagle (1500m) at Rosehill.

And who is to argue given what the Golden Eagle has already subsequently produced from it’s first two runnings?

Kolding won it in 2019, beating a field that included Classique Legend, Behemoth, Arcadia Queen, Jonker, Fasika, Sunlight and Brutal.

It's the XXXX #TheGoldenEagle from the sky!

Take a look at the aerial view of I'm Thunderstruck's win in the $7.5m feature at Rosehill. 🚁👀@MickPriceRacing @tabcomau pic.twitter.com/hEFYfbyTX2

— Racing NSW (@racing_nsw) October 30, 2021

Last year, Colette and Icebath fought out the finish. Icebath was a nostril away from making it a Group One double for that pair at Flemington today.

Superstorm ran sixth and was the horse that knocked Icebath off.

Hugh Bowman and I'm Thunderstruck (Pic: Steve Hart)

“He’ll be one of the headline horses in the country for the next couple of years,” Bowman said of the Mick Price and Michael Kent Junior-trained miler.

“I have been riding a long time and have ridden some amazing horses and the feeling that I got today is what it’s all about.

“While I was allowing my horse to get balanced Brock (Ryan) had clear space and basically put the race away, he just had a very good one chasing him in I’m Thunderstruck.

“When I went for him he found, at about the 200 metres he swapped legs and I just had to sit there while he got himself organised and honestly, I was just passenger, he just took me to the line.

“I made a point of not getting in his way and he delivered in spades.”

There was no wiping the smile off Bowman’s face after the race which he attributed to riding in front of a cheering crowd again.

“I’m just so proud of the horse and everybody behind him. I won (The Metrop) on Montefilia with no one there so it lacked emotion, for me it was a personal milestone but having the crowds here makes it,” he said.

“What has happened in New South Wales over the five or six years has been extraordinary.

“It’s only going to get stronger and stronger too.”

Mick Price said the performance of I’m Thunderstruck was a carbon copy of the horse’s Toorak Handicap win.

“He always has to fight doesn’t he? He would have won by further and cleaner and easier if he had have had a nice run in the race but always he’s had to fight his way out and then finish off,” he said.

“It’s like the Toorak, the horse was there and the jockey was there for him. He's very brave. You’ve just got to chase these races. He’s won a $7.5 million race.”

It was heartbreak for Robert and Luke Price, and leading apprentice Brock Ryan, with Count De Rupee looking the winner for much of the race, with the father and son training partnership confirming that Count De Rupee will next tackle The Gong (1600m) at his home track, Kembla Grange.

“I feel like I’m going cry because I just got beat,” said Ryan.

“It was a super effort. I thought I was the winner from the moment we straightened. He just got run down late.”

Vangelic edged out Apache Chase and Laws Of Indicies for third, collecting $750,000 in prize money.

“She backed up really well her today, she’s just so tough” commented co-trainer Adrian Bott.

Check out the results and replays for Golden Eagle Day at Rosehill.