Bella Luce wins Oamaru Cup
Riccarton mare Bella Luce (NZ) (Belardo) was victorious in Sunday’s Crombie & Price LTD Oamaru Cup (1600m), and now trainer Lance Robinson is hoping he can attain valuable black-type with the rising eight-year-old.
The daughter of Belardo had come close as a three-year-old when fourth in the Listed Mufhasa Stakes (1400m) for former trainers Shaun and Emma Clotworthy, and Robinson is hopeful she can go at least one better in the Gr.3 Winning Edge Presentations 129th Winter Cup (1600m) at Riccarton on Saturday week, with Sunday’s win making her ballot exempt for the mile feature.
She jumped away well on Sunday under apprentice jockey Triston Moodley, who sent her straight to the front. Bella Luce was still full of running at the turn and she held her rivals at bay to win by three-quarters of a length.
“It was a good effort, I am very pleased,” Robinson said. “She is a mare that can sometimes miss the kick a bit and she loves racing up on speed, so once she began well today I was pretty confident that she would be hard to beat.
“It was a good ride by Triston - she began well, led and was just too good for them. It was a good effort.”
While Bella Luce had two lead in runs on the synthetic, Robinson maintains that his mare is better suited to Heavy going, which she will likely meet at Riccarton at the start of next month.
“She is a very good Heavy track horse,” he said. “We only ran her on the synthetic mainly to fit her up for this race and we had nowhere else to go, so we had to run her on the synthetic.
“She has qualified for the Winter Cup now, so we might as well have a crack at that. If she can get a bit of black-type, that is what she is down her for, so that is the main aim.”
Meanwhile, Robinson has welcomed back stakes performer Iron Hawk and Group Two performer Alottago, with both geldings on a path towards the Gr.3 TAB Mile (1600m) at Riccarton in November.
“Iron Hawk is back in and has done just over a fortnight’s work and we are really happy with him, he looks super,” Robinson said. “At this stage, the TAB Mile is our main focus.
“Alottago came back in on the same day and he is working along really well too. He is bigger and stronger, he is nearly 500 kilos now. He has developed into a beautiful animal and we are really happy with him. The TAB Mile is his goal as well.”
