Daniel Gibbons and his family are currently holidaying in Bali.
But they were on ‘their own special island’ when Kelsey Bale put the ‘sunlight on the sand’ in the $78,795 Group 2 Sportsbet Ballarat Cup (450m) on Friday night.
Following a 35-minute delay to race start time due to inclement weather, Kelsey Bale – in the lyrics of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific – revealed “there’s nothin’ like a dame” with a ‘nothing in the world’ victory in the $50,000 to-the-winner event.
Kelsey Bale was last approaching the home turn, but her rivals watched her ‘soft and wavy frame’ flash past them in 25.14sec of power-laden sprinting excellence.
Kelsey Bale ($7.20) defeated the ‘King of Healesville’ Unleash Collinda ($4.80) by 0.7L, with her litter brother – Quinlan Bale ($6.20) – a further 0.6L away third.
It was her 20th win (with 16 seconds and seven thirds) from 60 starts and her stakes catapulted to $292,140. It was her third win from four starts over 450m at Ballarat.
Kelsey Bale (Jun ’20 Feral Franky x Ethla Allen) was the only female in the final.
She became only the fifth member of the fairer sex to take out the Ballarat Cup in the past two decades – emulating 2006 Witch Magic ($2.90F), 2010 Greta Bale ($8.10), 2011 Up And Away ($6.80) and 2015 Shared Equity ($9.40).
A 10-time Group race finalist – including wins in last year’s G2 Laurels Classic and G3 Silver Bullet – Kelsey Bale is renowned for her freakish ability.
She was also third in this year’s G1 Temlee and third in last year’s G1 Maturity Classic.
It’s been a huge week for ‘Team Gibbons’ as Titan Blazer took out the G3 Mount Gambier Cup last Sunday.
The other feature race winners on Ballarat Cup night were:
Thank You Rob Phillips (660m) – VALOR BALE ($2.20) – 37.97sec (T: Mark Delbridge)
Life Member’s Trophy (450m) – SIR BINGO ($3.80F) – 25.63sec (T: Trent Blacker)
Good Friday Appeal Cup (390m) – ACTION GIRL ($1.90F) – 22.05sec (T: Gary Peach)
Autumn Classic (450m) – PAUA OF SILENCE ($4.10) – 25.14sec (T: Steven White)
Frank Murphy Memorial (545m) – STOUT MONELLI ($2.80) – 30.82sec (T: David Geall)
Sportsbet Cup Night Match Race (450m) – REJUVENATE ($1.04F) – 25.08sec (T: Paul Brown)
WATCH: “What a win!” KELSEY BALE (B7) comes from the clouds to claim the Ballarat Cup.
