Ken Casellas
Trainer Ryan Bell has endured some worrying times with classy four-year-old Copper Head Lady and he heaved a sigh of relief at Gloucester Park on Friday night after the mare had scored a convincing victory in the 2130m Free Entry Pace.
She was the $1.80 favourite from the No. 3 barrier who was sent to the front by Liam Elliott after 300m and relished her frontrunning role before winning by two lengths from $31 chance Chekker, who finished solidly from seventh on the pegs at the bell. The winner rated 1.57.5 after dashing over the final 400m in 28.1sec.
Six weeks earlier, Copper Head Lady reappeared after a five-month absence when she broke into a gallop 350m after the start and finished a distant last behind Aardiebytheseaside.
“I would have been disappointed if she didn’t do the job tonight,” said Bell. “She will never win a race easily because she does only what she has to do. While it might have looked like she was stopping, Liam didn’t pull the plugs, and she had a bit in reserve.
“We’re on the right track with her. She has had a few issues, and we’ve been sorting them out. It has been a battle to get her back to her best form.
“She ties up really bad, and I think that her run in the WA Oaks last October when she led and finished third behind Fakenit affected her badly. It was after the Oaks that she was affected by a bad virus.”
Copper Head Lady, who is a daughter of champion sire Sweet Lou, has had 16 starts for six wins, five placings and $186,675. She showed early promise when she won the $125,000 Sales Classic for two-year-old fillies in March 2024.
Bell and Elliott completed a double on Friday night when $11.30 chance Fly To The Finish dashed to the front from barrier five in the 2130m Bridge Bar Pace and set a solid pace before winning by just under a length from $19 chance Cee Dee Three, rating 1.56.8.
“He is a big horse with good ability,” said Bell. “He has been matching it with Copper Head Lady in trackwork and therefore we expected him to race well. He won despite hitting a wheel and overracing.”
Fly To The Finish was placed at two of his five starts in New Zealand and then raced 24 times in New South Wales for six wins and seven placings before being purchased for $10,000 by Graeme Collins, who races the Bettors Delight five-year-old in partnership with his wife Pauline and their son Ben.
Fly To The Finish’s 34 WA starts have produced two wins, seven placings and $56,429 in stakes. His dam Tosti Girl (by Christian Cullen) was retired after having ten starts for four wins, four placings and $154,780. Tosti Girl won at three of her nine New Zealand starts and at her only Australian appearance she won the Group 1 New South Wales Oaks at Harold Park in February 2006.