Racing: Bazelle well after Eagle Farm start

SYDNEY - Matamata mare Bazelle has come through an "upside down" run in Brisbane last Saturday well and will race next in Melbourne.

It was the first run in a fresh campaign that connections hope will end with a Melbourne Cup win.

Bazelle surprised trainer Paul Jenkins by starting well in the Tattersall's Mile at Eagle Farm and settling handy to the pace.

"We had expected her to get back and finish well, but it didn't quite turn out that way," Jenkins told NZPA yesterday.

He was surprised further when young Queensland jockey Carl Spry took her outside the leader with 800m to run and she stayed there until the 200m mark when her condition gave out. She finished 12th.

"It wasn't what we expected, but she has come out of it well."

The Auckland Cup winner has the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups on her agenda, but Jenkins said her lead-up plans were flexible.

He is hoping to target some "soft open handicap races" towards the end of next month to get the 6- year-old Zabeel mare race fit.

She is listed by Melbourne bookmaker Michael Eskander as a $41 chance in the Caulfield Cup and at $26 for the Melbourne Cup.

Stablemate Desert Flight finished fifth in the Tattersall's Mile.

Jenkins had hoped to take him north for the Townsville Cup on Saturday, but travel arrangements fell through and the horse will probably run at Eagle Farm instead.

- NZPA