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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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