KEY POINTS:
Rider Jim Collett and trainer Mark Brosnan know they are eventually going to have to teach Veloce Bella to race through a field, but they weren't prepared to take that chance in Saturday's $100,000 Avondale Guineas.
The class filly showed how good she was by covering significantly more
ground than any other runner but was still clearly superior.
Veloce Bella, short in height, but strong, has so far produced her best when allowed plenty of galloping room.
Her two winning runs at Ellerslie and Rotorua before Saturday were on rain-affected tracks that have suited her tactic of scouting around the field in the late stages, but Collett knows that on firmer footing those tactics are eventually going to prove fatal.
But the Matamata jockey believes that much of it is simply a matter of a learning experience to race in tight quarters.
"She's been a very slow learner," said Collett. "Early on you couldn't get her to keep up with the field, which is why she finished last at Matamata as a 2-year-old."
Victory at group two level on Saturday was crucial to everyone in the Veloce Bella camp and no risks were taken.
"Mark's [Brosnan, trainer] last words to me were to make sure she had a clear run."
Collett followed those instructions when he left his spot tracking the obvious horse to beat, Pinot Grigio, to sprint Veloce Bella quickly to follow Takeitall, who had taken off around the field three wide at the 600m.
It meant Veloce Bella was five and six wide on the bend.
The run looked to have taken its toll when the filly appeared flat at the 200m, but when ridden hard she found a higher gear and powered past Pinot Grigio, who had enjoyed a beautiful run through to the lead close to the inside.
"It's going to be too tough to keep riding her the way we are," said Collett.
"I'm sure we'd still have won if we'd continued to follow Pinot Grigio.
"And, to be fair to him, he looked to pull up a bit when he hit the lead."
Brosnan, never a headline seeker, does a splendid job with the mainly moderate horses he is given and has taken his chances and maximised Veloce Bella's talent.
His task now is to head the filly towards the Oaks at Trentham in late January.
Collett has no doubts the filly will manage the 2400m, half as far again as Veloce Bella has so far been tested at.
"She'll get it against her own age group because she relaxes."
Collett says Veloce Bella reminds him of Olga's Pal, one of the best of her year. "She wasn't a big filly and she won the 1000 Guineas.
"You always had to come to the outside on her and she could really finish off. This filly is so much like her."
There have been substantial offers for Veloce Bella, but one of her breeders, Margaret Hardy, said the syndicate she is involved with is not interested in selling.
"This is the first horse we've experienced this sort of thrill with and we know it's a once in a lifetime thing," Hardy said.
"We've been around long enough to know that most of them don't get to where they can win a race.
"I was at the races the other day and this person won a race and said it was the first time in 25 years of owning horses that they'd managed to win one.
"I thought - wow. It makes you understand your luck.
"I've told Mark we don't want to know about the offers."
