Gold Coast Belle is set for tougher assignments after making a winning return to the track at Sandown on Saturday.
Trainer Danny O’Brien has flagged a step up to Group 2 company for the four-year-old mare, who outclassed her opposition, including the previously unbeaten Tennessee Bound, in the $150,000 Dr Sheahan Plate (1300m) for benchmark 88 performers.
The daughter of So You Think secured her fourth consecutive win, returning to racing after winning the Listed Bendigo Guineas (1400m) on May 1. O’Brien confirmed that the Group 2 Let’s Elope Stakes (1400m) at their home track of Flemington on September 12 is the next target.
“She’s probably in set-weights Stakes races for the rest of the spring, but this looked a good starting point for her and, fortunately, that’s the way it panned out,” O’Brien stated. “She was always travelling very comfortably and let down really well. She got across the softish ground with no problem, so there were a few things we hadn’t seen before that she did today.”
“She gets to the Let’s Elope and then the other mares’ race on Turnbull Day (Group 2 Rose Of Kingston Stakes) – they’re both 1400 at Flemington – which looks the right set-up for her.”
While the Let’s Elope Stakes and Rose Of Kingston Stakes often act as stepping stones to the Group 1 Empire Rose Stakes (1600m) on Derby Day, O’Brien expressed hope for an invitation to the $2 million Group 2 The Invitation in Sydney a week earlier.
Gold Coast Belle ($2.30) proved too good for Tennessee Bound, which was seeking its seventh straight victory to commence its career, finishing 2-1/4 lengths ahead of the $2.70 second favourite, with Moby Dick ($13) a further neck back in third.
This win was Gold Coast Belle’s fifth success from just seven starts, with the mare having placed second on the other two occasions.
While Jordan Childs has partnered her for most of her races, O’Brien engaged top apprentice Logan Bates, who still has a 1.5kg claim for Saturday’s race. The young jockey felt he had the race under control throughout.
“We were able to get in a nice controlling position and she just trucked the whole way,” Bates said. “When I did ask her, gee she let go, and she was having a good look about. She just showed her class today.”
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