Monday, 3 December 2018: Hawkesbury trainer Bernie Kelly clinched the biggest win of his career when Bobbing brilliantly won the $150,000 final of the inaugural Sky Racing Spring Provincial Series at Kembla Grange on December 1.

Despite the impressive win Bobbing  won’t be attempting a repeat performance in next autumn’s Provincial Championships as Kelly and his wife Ann have sold their North Richmond property and are moving to Scone in coming weeks.
That means the talented five-year-old will not be eligible to contest the 2019 Provincial Championships or the Country Championships equivalent either.
The finals of both rich series are run on consecutive Saturdays in April during The Championships at Randwick.
With Rory Hutchings aboard Bobbing produced what has become a trademark overpowering finish to easily defeat Newcastle pair Plaisir and High Power in the 1600m final at Kembla.
He has now won four of his eight starts and finished second on three other occasions.
Kelly is a son of the late Ballarat trainer Noel Kelly who was regarded as one of the most astute of his time.
Noel Kelly almost brought off a huge betting coup in the Randwick spring feature double in 1974, landing the Epsom Handicap with roughie Citadel before Frozen Section was nabbed on the post by Passetreul two days later in the AJC Metropolitan.
Bernie Kelly never has more than a few horses in work and has done a splendid job with the homebred Bobbing.
Bobbing is by the deceased stallion Beneteau from the Dehere mare My Dear, who provided Kelly with his last city win at Canterbury on New Year’s Eve in 2003.
Kely remembers Bobbing’s birth vividly.
“We foaled him down at home around 3am that morning,” Kelly said.
There was also extra significance in his birth as My Dear’s previous two foals never had the chance to make it to the races. The first died from a foreign disease and the other from a severe bout of colic.
It hasn’t been plain sailing for Bobbing either as he did not begin racing until a late three-year-old when runner-up on his home track on May 19 last year.
“A few things went wrong with him, including a fractured splint bone,” Kelly said.
“He has certainly been worth persevering with. As we’re moving to Scone soon we’ll give him a break now and look for suitable races next year.”
Rory Hutchings gained the winning mount on Bobbing after Kelly felt he had originally booked Koby Jennings, who rode 7th placed Chalmers.
“Josh Barrett manages both jockeys and I thought I had secured Koby,” Kelly explained.
“Somehow there was a misunderstanding but it all turned out well in the end.”
The Kellys race Bobbing with former Sydney Turf Club director Judy Foley, Robyn Sperling, the wife of another former STC director Evan Sperling, and Sydney anaesthetist Michael Gleeson.