Cambridge trainer John Bell had double the reason to smile after a successful day at Te Rapa on Saturday.
Sentimental stable favourite Athena Baby notched his first New Zealand success when he took out the BGP Battlers Cup (2200m) while earlier in the day classy sprinter Julius confirmed he is on track for a potential Group One assignment when impressing onlookers during an exhibition gallop.
Bell has the Gr.1 Tarzino Trophy (1400m) in mind for Julius who won twice at Group Three level during a three-start campaign over the summer.
“He’s come up pretty quickly this time in, so we thought we’d better see how he was going with a gallop at Te Rapa,” said Bell.
“He has been his usual obnoxious self around the stable of late so he’s obviously feeling pretty good about things.
“Jason (Waddell) came back with his eyes wide open and a huge smile on his face after the gallop so I think he was pretty happy about it all. We only really wanted him to speed up over the last 600m but he didn’t want to pull up, so Jason let him roll right around to the back straight.
“That work will clean him up nicely, so I think he will have a run at Te Rapa in a fortnight before we tackle the Foxbridge Plate after that.
“He’s still quite a way down on the order of entry for Hastings but if he performs in the Foxbridge, which is a Group Two, then that might be enough to sneak into the Hastings field.”
Bell was also delighted to see Athena Baby notch his first New Zealand success after the Swiss Ace gelding had won four times during an eighteen-month stint in Hong Kong.
“He was a good performer up in Hong Kong but he had a few niggles so the owners decided to bring him back here and give him plenty of time in the paddock to see if he could get over them,” he said.
“You don’t win four up there if you’re not a classy customer so we always thought he could deliver here if we could get him right.
“He has thrived in his new environment so I did think it was a matter of when and not if he could get back in the winning groove.
“He’s a real favourite of my staff and after they all backed him on Saturday I would think he might be getting some extra special attention this week as well.”
