Photo: Bruno Cannatelli
New Zealand-bred mare Grinzinger Belle (Shamexpress) made a bold start to her spring campaign with a commanding front-running performance in Saturday’s A$300,000 Gr.2 Furphy Let’s Elope Stakes (1400m) at Flemington.
The daughter of Shamexpress led all the way for a black-type win over the same course and distance in the Gr.3 Vanity Stakes (1400m) in her first-up run in the autumn, and trainer Danny O’Brien repeated the same formula fresh up in the fillies and mares’ feature on Saturday.
Urged forward in the early stages by jockey Damian Lane, Grinzinger Belle hit the lead inside the first 200m in a Let’s Elope that was run in testing and deteriorating Heavy8 track conditions. The four-year-old mare dominated the race every step of the way from there.
Grinzinger Belle poured it on in the straight and blasted clear, opening up a winning margin of four lengths over the placegetters See You In Heaven and Alsephina.
“She was very good,” Lane said. “She’s a good fresh horse. Her first trial was so-so and then she trialled much better last time. She obviously took good improvement from that and she was cherry-ripe for today.
“The conditions obviously didn’t affect her performance and she won very well.”
Grinzinger Belle has now had 12 starts for three wins, four placings and A$450,155 in stakes.
“Very happy,” O’Brien said. “She won the Vanity in the autumn first-up and we thought she was in similar order today, although she was tackling a deeper field. There were some very classy mares in that race today.
“She always travelled well in the run, but I didn’t think she’d open up and win like that. Really pleased that she’s come back as well as she has.
“She’s a good Kiwi-bred by Shamexpress, who we trained and is so close to our hearts. She seemed to handle today’s conditions well.”
O’Brien will now point Grinzinger Belle towards the Gr.1 Empire Rose Stakes (1600m) at Flemington in November.
“She cuts out at the mile, but we’d aim to be here on Derby Day for the Group One race for fillies and mares,” he said.
Grinzinger Belle was bred by Windsor Park Stud and is out of Ripsomemore, a Rip Van Winkle half-sister to Group Three winner Golden Parachute. Grinzinger Belle is another good graduate of the New Zealand Bloodstock Book 2 Yearling Sale at Karaka, where she was purchased by owner John Wheeler for $32,000.
