Feature race winning juvenile Maestro Bellini has already arrived for his next assignment.
Fresh from his success last weekend in the $30,000 Gurney Group of Companies Wayne Wilson Paleface Adios Classic at Albion Park, the Chris Petroff prepared rookie has made it safely to Bathurst in preparation for the Gold Crown series.
The time honoured $100,000 series commences on Saturday week (March 19).
“We arrived on Monday night and everything went well, he handled the trip really in good shape and so far he’s settled into his surroundings at the old track (showgrounds) like he’s been here before. He’s a smart colt in that respect and he travelled with Machvicar who came along for the trip with him and they’ve buddied up well.” Petroff said.
Maestro Bellini led throughout in his debut performance and scored by a half neck margin from Clintal Do while rating a respectable 1:58.4 for the 1660m event while covering his final 800m in splits of 28.4 and 29.2 seconds.
The track was a touch sticky given showery activity throughout the night.
The Bettors Delight – Santuzza youngster started at short odds following his blistering trial success three weeks earlier at Albion Park where he rated 1:56.3 defeating older rivals.
Bred and raced by Alf La Spina and his family, the precocious talent was always headed to Bathurst for the feature series.
“Alf is a great supporter of the Bathurst series and was keen to support it again this year, we’ve been lucky enough to win it before and we’re hoping to do it again this year. We’ve always had a good opinion of this colt since he broke him and he seems like a real professional with the way he goes about his business. My partner Bec (Croghan) does plenty of work with him and deserves plenty of credit too but she has stayed home to look after the rest of the team but hopefully she can come down for the final.
“I was happy with the victory first-up because it was the first time he’s led and although he wanted to stargaze and wait for his rivals over the finals stages but he still knuckled down and finished it off. The time was more than comparable to other times throughout the night plus his sectionals were solid and his race was late in the program where the track had plenty of use by then.
“I’m confident there is plenty of upside with him heading into the Gold Crown series, I wanted to get down early and have him settled in and I’m glad we made the early move. I might even take him to the new track before the heats next week so he can have a look at the facilities, it’s always a strong series and I’m sure there will be plenty of talent around for this series but my guy is pretty good too.”
And Petroff is hopeful the travelling companion can pay his way during the trip.
The big striding Mach Three gelding looked impressive winning last weekend at Albion Park after overcoming a tricky second-line draw while rating a sharp 1:55.4.
“He just keeps improving and I was thrilled with his winning effort last week, his time was just outside his personal best and he did his fair share of work in running but felt strong throughout.
“His current form warranted a trip away and I think he should keep improving, we might even look at the Smooth Satin Cup with him next week, it will be a rise in grade but he deserves his opportunity.”
The La Spina family will also have San Domino lining up in the Gold Crown series next week, the Somebeachsomewhere colt is prepared locally by Ben Settree.
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