Maven Belle too strong in juvenile feature
Race favourite Maven Belle showed she has a touch of class about her as she eased clear in the final 100m to take out the Group 3 Platinum Homes 2YO Classic (1200m) at Te Rapa.
The daughter of Burgundy had been slated to start at short odds in the juvenile feature that was a feature of the New Plymouth meeting last weekend, however with that meeting abandoned after the first race, the event was rescheduled to the Te Rapa meeting on Saturday.
Punters lined up again in their droves as the Jamie Richards-trained filly was sent out at a -125 quote and were never given any cause for concern after she was brilliantly away from gate one for rider Opie Bosson.
Bosson elected to take a trail before angling Maven Belle into the clear at the 300m as she surged to the front. Despite being hotly challenged in the closing stages by Val Di Zoldo and Charmario, Maven Belle extended nicely to win by just over a length on the Slow 7 surface.
“It was a lovely ride by Opie on a nice, home bred filly,” Richards said.
“She’s got a lovely pedigree and is closely related to Levante.
“Opie gave her a great steer and got off the fence at the right time and we thought she would be able to handle the soft track and she duly obliged.
“She has plenty of size and scope about her for next year and her work has been good at home, with improvement still in her.”
Unbeaten in two starts now for the Te Akau Maven Belle Racing Partnership, Maven Belle is out of the stakes placed staying mare Doyenne who is the half-sister to Group 1 Telegraph (1200m) winner Levante and was bred by David Ellis and his wife Karyn in partnership with Mark and Julia Walker.
“The plan was to go to Matamata Breeders’ Stakes (Group 2, 1200m) off the back of last week, which would have been three weeks between runs,” Richards said.
“We might look to go straight to Ellerslie now (Group 1, Sistema Stakes, 1200m) and give her a little trial in between.
“We don’t need to make any decisions today, so I will have a chat to the boss and then make a plan.”
Bosson, who had wasted hard to make the 54.5kg weight to ride the filly, knew he had made the right decision when galloping her in trackwork.
“When I galloped her last week, I was quite happy I was riding her at 54.5kgs,” he said.
“She gave me a good feel and showed it today.
“I was keen to get off the fence and although she was a little green, she did it well.
“She is up with the other two-year-olds in the stable and has a lot of scope about her and will be a nice three-year-old next season.”
Runner-up Val Di Zoldo, who looked a winning chance at the 200m, became the first black-type performer for his sire, War Decree who stands at Inglewood Stud in the South Island.