Gai Waterhouse | Gai Waterhouse Gais Tip Sheet

FRIDAY 4th SEPTEMBER - WYONG

Rail Position: True

BELLA MONTAGNA - Race 6, 3.55pm, 2100m, R King, 54kg
Bella Montagna is delighting us ahead of her return. In her first trial she was simply outsprinted by some talented Stakes performers, and whilst she was last again in her second trial she wasn’t beaten too far. Resuming over 2100 metres isn’t usually in our rule book, however, she retains some residual fitness from her Queensland campaign where she last raced in mid-June and she’s generally been a lot dourer this preparation, so we aren’t concerned by it especially around this tight turning track. This is not a strong edition of this race, as whilst the top horse Eliyass is rated 111 the next best is 97, followed by your mare at 90 with the rest of the field then ranging from 89-59, so this also gave us the confidence to kick her off here. Moreover, victory in this race would boost her rating sufficiently to enable her to get into more competitive races second-up and beyond, which she needs to be doing if we’re to get her to the Group 2 Metropolitan Handicap as her Grand Final. Rachel knows her extremely well so we’re delighted to have her aboard, and she’s a mare that’s generally ridden with some cover so Rachel will position her accordingly and try to conserve her energy mid-race before unleashing her from the 800 metres onwards. She’s got a couple of things to overcome but we think she can do it, and we expect her to be right there at the finish.