“He said to me, ‘Mate, what’s in the bag?’ When I opened it, he knew straight away what they were. He couldn’t believe it.

“I was so relieved and kept telling the cabbie, ‘Mate, you’re the best’. We posed for some photos. He didn’t want any money at first, but I made sure I tipped him.”

Boss said he had never come close to losing trophies in the past, and still enjoyed celebratory drinks from the cups when entertaining friends at his home on Mermaid Beach.

Boss won the first edition of the Golden Eagle aboard Kolding in 2019, and the hoop said there were only two horses he liked on Saturday.

“If the Japanese filly [Ascoli Piceno] turns up for [jockey] Joao Moreira, she’ll go close, and she’s way better than the Japanese horse [Obamburumai] who won it last year,” Boss said.

Loading

“Chris Waller’s mare [Joliestar] ran unbelievably well in the Everest. She has to be the best of the locals. She didn’t just hit the line, she went through the line. Sometimes when horses are beaten for speed early, they don’t finish off well because they are off the bit. But Joliestar ripped through the line.”

As for next Tuesday’s Cup, Boss said the depth was a concern, and “if Buckeroo is the best of the locals, the internationals should be winning”.

“If I was riding, I’d like to be on Vauban,” he said. “I think [trainer] Willie Mullins may have got his preparation wrong last year, and he’ll be better this time. Willie is a smart man.”