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Mornington based horseman Michael Mehegan considers himself lucky to still have the best horse to pass through his hands in his care.

Bossy Benita put a scare through the Mehegan stable last year when she dumped her rider at trackwork and went on a path of destruction that could have resulted in her racing career being curtailed.

Luckily for Bossy Benita and Mehegan the mare came through it relatively unscathed and the four-year-old aims to win some ‘Black Type’ when she lines up in the Group 3 Geoffrey Bellmaine Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on Saturday.

It will be the mares’ first start since finishing near the tail in the Group 2 Let’s Elope Stakes (1400m) at Flemington last September which came after her Mornington escapade one morning.

“We had her in really good condition and form before the Let’s Elope, but she had a track accident where she lost the rider,” Mehegan said.

“She went through three or four different parts of running rail and we were lucky she survived. I thought she was going to kill herself, she was that bad, she was in complete flight mode.

“We trialled her after that and we pushed on to the Let’s Elope, but she just wasn’t right.

“At that level you need to be excellent and she wasn’t. She was cooked by then and in hindsight I should never have run her, but she was airborne before that.

“We gave her a good long spell, I think she had six weeks in the paddock and she’s had three jump-outs, normally I just give her two.

“She trialled against Jigsaw, and finished second to him, but wasn’t quite ready after that, so I decided to give her a third which she won quite impressively and did it on her terms which showed us she was back to her best.”

Mehegan concedes Saturday’s assignment will not be easy given the mare is not well suited at the weights with her rating.

But it is a race the trainer has had in mind for considerable time as a former charge – Prussian Vixen – provided Mehegan with his first ‘Black Type’ success.

Prussian Vixen won the race in 2017 and backed it up again the following year.

“It would be nice if she could win,” Mehegan said.

“It’s been a long-range plan to kick her off in the Bellmaine and try and win it for a third time.

“There are horses in the race that are much higher rated than her, but I think she’s up to that level.

“I think she’s better than Prussian Vixen, but she gets a bit hot sometimes.

“I think she’s good enough to win a 1000-metre race first-up, but certainly 1200 metres is a more suitable distance and probably in the past the 1400 metres has been her sweet spot.”

Lachlan Neindorf, who has ridden Bossy Benita in her past two serious pieces of work, is booked to ride the mare on Saturday, replacing Craig Williams.

“Initially we were going to give her a run earlier in the month but unfortunately Craig was away, and in the end decided on another jump-out,” Mehegan said.

“He was away every Saturday, and he was unavailable for the jump-out, so Lachie was available and he’s got the ride on Saturday.”