TASMANIAN-owned and trained greyhound Bell Haven notched the biggest win of her career when she powered her way to an impressive victory in the Group 3 Sydney Cup over 720 metres at Wentworth Park last Saturday night.
After proving her worth by finishing a game fourth in the National Distance Championship over 709 metres in Hobart in August her trainer Ted Medhurst said he was quietly confident the bitch would make her presence felt in a number of distance events interstate.
His prediction has now been proven right and given the ease with which she dispensed with a quality field last Saturday night it would appear she is getting closer to star status.
Bell Haven (Head Bound – It’s A She) began from box six but her early brilliance helped her overcome the awkward draw.
She hit the line over two lengths clear of Ebby Miss with Hotwire a close-up third.
Despite winning her Sydney Cup heat defeating He Knows Uno, punters sent her out at the lucrative price of $7.90 while He Knows Uno started the short-priced favourite at $2.30 but was never in the hunt, while the Graeme Bate-trained Irma Bale finished fourth and on the heels of the minor placegetters.
Bell Haven’s win also enhanced the value of Leigh Alexander’s brood bitch It’s A She that produced multiple winners from Bell Haven’s litter including her siblings Jethro and Beaudine.
A few members of the next litter (x Dyna Lachlan) are delivering the goods; especially She’s All Class that blitzed her rivals in the Tasbred Maiden Series final in Devonport last week.
She clocked a sizzling 25.87s that was clearly the best of the day and her trainer David Crosswell is confident she will win a feature races in the coming months.
Medhurst had an interest in another winner on the 10-event card last Saturday night courtesy of Rob Pines, a dog formerly trained by Medhurst, winning a grade four for NSW mentor Mark Gatt.