Belle of the ball

By David Nagel
PAKENHAM trained five-year-old mare, Hi Belle, might have raced herself into the $500,000 Group One Myer Classic (1600m) at Flemington over the spring carnival after winning the $100,000 Race-Tech Classic (1600m) at Caulfield last Wednesday.
Hi Belle followed up her last start win in the Bairnsdale Cup with a grinding victory at Caulfield, but it was the words of jockey Craig Williams that most excited owner/trainer John Gunning.
With regular jockey Kane Bradley suspended, Gunning got not only a beautiful ride from Williams but some encouragement after the race as well.
“Craig got off and said ‘don’t hold her back, have a crack at the Group One (Myer Classic).’ To hear that from a jockey of his calibre was quite exciting,” Gunning said.
“That race today was a listed race but we thought the standard was more like group two quality, it was a big step up from her Bairnsdale Cup win.
“We’ll wait and see now, she’ll be entered for the Myer Classic on 29 October but there’s a 1700m race on Melbourne Cup Day that might suit her as well.”
Hi Belle was positioned sixth at the 800m mark in last week’s race before Williams started a long, sustained run all the way to the line to edge out Damien Oliver on Neriani by a head, with Nash Rawiller on Keep the Peace two lengths away in third place.
It was the grinding nature of the win that signalled to Gunning that Hi Belle had matured, physically anyway, this preparation and that the longer distances could now be within her grasp.
“It was a tough win; she can run out a real strong mile now whereas before it was more a sit and sprint,” he said.
“I’m putting a lot more work into her now, she can handle it and it’s making a big difference in her races.
“That run will really top her off, she licked her bin out when she got home, she’ll be cherry ripe for her next run.”
Despite her improved physical maturity, Hi Belle is still a nasty piece of work when it comes to her manners. It seems to be an inherent thing. Hi Belle is one of six fillies out of brood mare Seldom Caught and every one of them has caused Gunning problems with their manners.
“She’s a nasty little devil this one, she’s just like her mother, she’s a nasty so and so as well,” he said.
“She’s bitten everyone around our stables; she took a chunk out of her strapper, Robina Milne and even had a go at Brendan (Short) the track manager.
“She is getting a little bit better but she’s still nasty.”
Last Wednesday’s win took Hi Belle’s career record to six wins from 19 starts with three seconds; the $95,000 she’s earned in her last two starts has catapulted her career winnings to over $188,000 and meant Gunning could treat himself to a spring carnival gift.
“Yeah, I bought a brand-new tractor the other day, it’s got four bins on it, it’s a beauty,” he said.
The Myer Classic carries a first prize of $300,000 so Gunning could be spending up big during Cup week. He hopes Craig Williams is a good judge.