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Clarken Racing | Clarken Racing News 43685 Bella Vella Claims Mcewen

Bella Vella claims McEwen

Bella Vella claims McEwen

Older sprinting mare Bella Vella maintained her unbeaten record this year with a trademark determined on-pace display in the $200,000 Group 2 Mittys McEwen Stakes (1000m) at The Valley on Saturday.

There was plenty of market support for Bella Vella ($4) and under Jamie Kah's guidance she was prominent throughout before shading fellow on-pacer Ashlor ($31) by a short head.

Brooklyn Hustle ($3.80 equal favourite), ridden by Ben Melham replacing the indisposed Dwayne Dunn, settled closer than usual in the nine-horse field and appeared poised to strike on straightening but couldn't quicken sufficiently to bridge the gap on the leaders and finished third.

Last season's Blue Diamond Stakes runner-up Hanseatic ($3.80 equal favourite) covered plenty of extra ground from the outside barrier under Craig Williams at his seasonal resumption, finishing fourth.

Last year's McEwen Stakes runner-up Bons Away ($8) finished second last, only beating home the Kris Lees-trained mare Witherspoon ($14), who endured a tough run at her first Victorian start.

WATCH: Bella Vella's McEwen Stakes win

"She's bloody tough," Kah said of Bella Vella. "First-up and she's still got a bit of condition on her, she was just so tough.

"She probably had enough about 100 metres out but she was just always going to win in my mind - so tough.

“We were in a nice spot early but Stacky (Daniel Stackhouse on runner-up Ashlor) wanted to pop off, I just didn't want to use her up and bump her around so were three wide in the end. But she's such a tough horse. I think if you set her a task, she just sticks it out to the end."

Bella Vella ended her three-start autumn campaign by winning her first Group race as a $41 chance in the G1 Robert Sangster Stakes (1200m) at Morphettville in May.

The six-year-old daughter of Commands has won all four starts this year, three of those at Stakes level, with the G1 Moir Stakes (1000m) at The Valley on September 25 her intended next start where she will meet Brooklyn Hustle again.

"The winner looked very ready and we weren't as ready (in the prep) as her," said Brooklyn Hustle's co-trainer Jason Warren. "She will improve after this, she's still not very seasoned."

https://www.racing.com/news/2020-09-05/review-bella-vella-claims-mcewen#/

Carl Di Iorio

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More Murray Bridge joy for Crowther

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Cicala keeps unbeaten streak alive in Lightning Stakes

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Clarken's filly set for Stakes test

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Keeping it in the family

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‘Quality’ So You Think colt heads to Clarken and O’Shea

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Peltzer's brother turns heads

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Adelaide Cup Day summary: Milnes rates Silent Surrente to perfection in The Cup

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Surrente stars in Adelaide Cup

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Crowther's G1 chance on Flower

It's the race that's provided the script for a string of jockey fairytales in recent years and Kayla Crowther is hoping Saturday's Oakleigh Plate can deliver her a maiden Group 1 triumph too. The South Australia-based rider will partner rejuvenated mare Prairie Flower in the iconic handicap which has provided breakthrough elite-level wins for Ben Thompson (2023 on Uncommon James), Ben Allen (2022 on Marabi) and Teo Nugent (2021 on Portland Sky) this decade alone. Last year, Harry Coffey also won his first Victorian G1 race aboard Queman in the Oakleigh Plate. Crowther, 26, has ridden in 10 races at the top level and said she is always grateful to connections for trusting her with the ride in such races. "I'm pretty excited," Crowther said. "The only other Victorian Group 1 race I've ridden in was the Oakleigh Plate on Shamino and it was at Sandown that year. "Obviously these opportunities don't come up very often, so to be granted the ride, I'm super grateful. "I'm lucky in this one because the weight limits a few of the options of interstate riders. "Winning on the horse helped as well. "Will (Clarken) has been super loyal and he's given me some really good chances in nice races before - I rode Bella Vella for him in the Sangster a couple of years ago." Crowther has won two races on Prairie Flower, including the Listed Durbridge Stakes (1100m) at Morphettville last month. Jamie Melham steered the daughter of Star Turn into third place in the G2 Rubiton Stakes (1100m) but has elected to ride Arabian Summer for Tony and Clavin McEvoy on Saturday. Crowther believes Prairie Flower can run a cheeky race with 52kg in a high-pressure contest. "I think the 1100m is right up her alley," she said. "She appears to be in career-best form and I galloped her this morning at Oakbank - it was a really nice working four-two (800m gallop quickening up the final 400m) and she just feels enormous underneath me at the moment. "I couldn't be happier. "52kg in a fast-run 1100m will suit her down to the ground. "She's going to have to improve a couple of lengths to be in the finish of an Oakleigh Plate, but I don't think she's taken a step backwards, that's for sure." WATCH: Prairie Flower's Durbridge Stakes win Among the horses to beat in the Oakleigh Plate is Sghirripa, who Crowther partnered to an eye-catching win in a barrier trial last week. Strathalbyn-based trainers Shane and Cassie Oxlade are eyeing back-to-back wins in the race after Queman's victory in 2024. Crowther said Sghirripa, who bombed the start and finished unplaced behind his stablemate in last year's Oakleigh Plate, appears to be maturing. "I was really happy with his trial," she said. "He always does trial really well and he goes super in his first- and second-up runs. "He seems like he's maturing as an older horse and he was doing a few things better than he has before - he wasn't laying in as heavily as he can and he didn't over-race as fiercely as he can." Sghirripa is $15 in Sportsbet's Oakleigh Plate market, while Prairie Flower is $51.Story from Racing.com (James Tzaferis)

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Flower blooms for stakes victory in Durbridge

Prairie Flower is a veteran of 37 race starts, but at five years old the mare is just beginning to flourish. In her fourth start for new trainers Will Clarken and Niki O'Shea, the sharp mare surged to victory in Saturday's Listed Durbridge Stakes (1100m) at Morphettville. Purchased for $150,000 in an Inglis Online Sale last year, Prairie Flower has now won back-to-back races for the stable, Saturday's black-type win was a first, after running third at the level in the Without Fear Stakes in 2022 when trained by Henry Dwyer. "She came to us in really good fashion, (she's a) lovely sound mare," Clarken said. "David Jolly had a little bit to do with her when she was racing in South Australia, when she went online he gave me a really good push to get her and he was right. "She went into her first-up run and she was really underdone, and the programming was against us going into her second-up run which was a stakes race (Christmas Handicap) over 1200m – she just blew out." Prairie Flower was guided to the line by gun hoop Kayla Crowther, who has ridden the mare in all four starts this campaign. Clarken and O'Shea had the quinella in the race, with stablemate Extremely Lucky running boldly first-up for second. "I really have to pay homage to Kayla, I had to tinker with her gear a little bit and all of my riders work really well with me but we really gel in getting these sort of horses going," he said. "She does the hard yards, we galloped 15 at Oakbank on Tuesday morning, and she was one of the riders to get there and do the hard yards for us." Clarken now has his sights set on the Adelaide Racing Carnival with Prairie Flower, the Group 1 Robert Sangster Stakes (1200m) is one of four SA Group 1s worth $1m in prizemoney – and perhaps it's time to dream large. "I'm actually really excited about her, I've got a race in mind that comes up over our carnival, and we'll most probably ease now and target it," Clarken said. "I don't know if she has the class (for the Sangster), but I've won Proud Miss's (Stakes) and other races with horses with less ability, and I think she can be a really high class mare for us." The afternoon was owned by Clarken, O'Shea and Crowther however, who put an exclamation mark on their success in the last race, combining for a win with Clarence, while stablemate Yasuke also gave them another quinella. The result saw Crowther split riding honours with Neindorf and Holder, who also scored a double on Saturday aboard Gin Spirit and Inaugural. Clarken and O'Shea shared training honours with the Stokes stable on the nine-race card. Story from Racenet

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Episodic regains winning touch to trainer's delight

After two unplaced finishes at stakes level, sharp mare Episodic returned to the winner's stall on Saturday with an impressive win at Murray Bridge. Guided under a gun steer from Todd Pannell, the daughter of Tavistock held off race favourite Let's Get Down in the closing stages to salute in a Benchmark 76 over 1200m. It was Episodic's first run in Benchmark grade following two unplaced runs in the Group 3 Behemoth Stakes and Listed Christmas Handicap, either side of a four-and-a-half month spell. Trainer Niki O'Shea was thrilled to have his gun mare back in form, notching the fifth race win of her 18-start career. "(We're) delighted with that; it's a great effort by the team to get her back going," O'Shea, who trains in partnership with Will Clarken, said. "She had a big prep last prep; sometimes those mares don't turn up after a spell; it's great to get her back going. "She's a quality mare, a real stable favourite, (she's) beautiful, so we're delighted to get her to win again." O'Shea was full of praise for Pannell's ride; the hoop settled in the box seat, peeling off the rail at the 400m before winding up strongly. The stable has another stakes tilt on the radar for the Pinecliff Racing-owned Episodic as they chase black-type status. "She's tough as nails and just tries her heart out every time; Todd rode her lovely again today, probably against her usual pattern, she usually gets right back and goes down the outside, but he was clever enough to use his position and he rode her beautifully," he said. "That's the aim (black type). She's racing for good clients, and she's got good pedigree; she deserves some black type – she's been really solid." Story from Racenet

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