The value of having had race experience should prove vital to the chances of the Matthew Dunn-trained Fighting Belle on her home track at Murwillumbah on Tuesday.
The well-bred daughter of Haradasun out of the Octagonal mare Octavia Belle, made her debut in a 1010m Maiden at Murwillumbah on April 12.
Fighting Belle angled clear at the top of the straight and made good ground in the run to the line finishing a half-length second to Excellero.
“She did a few things wrong in the run but hit the line strongly,” Dunn said. “Race experience will definitely help her.
“She had two soft trials on purpose leading into it and she has improved off the run.”
Fighting Belle is raced by Sydney based owner David Simpson.
Simpson has been a client of Dunn’s for around four months.
“David sent up six well-bred horses with me that were previously with John Thompson,” Dunn said.
“There are some nice horses there.”
Fighting Belle “a nice neat thing” according to Dunn has taken natural improvement since her debut.
“She’s a nice progressive sort of horse,” Dunn added. “And she should get through the ground. It’s going to be soft.”
In-form jockey Matthew McGuren, who was aboard the three-year-old filly on debut, retains the mount.
Dunn has elected to scratch Hollywood Barbie from the Victory Hotel Mooball Cup (1530m). The mare is scheduled to start at Ipswich on Monday.
With Dunn’s charge skipping the event, the Bryan Guy-trained Biagiotti comes right into calculations.
A last start winner over 1400m at the Gold Coast, Biagiotti, a Brooke Ainsworth mount, will appreciate the track conditions. He excels on wet tracks.
The three-year-old filly gets in well with just 54kg on her back after Ainsworth’s 1.5kg claim.
