Seven-year-old mare Electric Belle (NZ) (Power) has yielded a bumper pay day for trainer Reece Goodwin and his owners in the A$250,000 Country Mile Series Final (1600m) at Caulfield on Saturday.
The Kiwi-bred daughter of Power came from well-back under a well-timed ride by Damian Lane to land the most lucrative victory of her career, with the mare now the winner of seven races with 13 placings and a total of A$478,635 in prizemoney.
The mare has proved a nice hand-me-down, winning five races for Alex Rae as a city-class mare after transferring from the late Ray Cleaver and Goodwin. They have reaped the rewards after purchasing Electric Belle via Inglis Digital for just $5,000 last September.
While Lane has ridden some of the most blue-blooded horse flesh around the globe, he won Caulfield feature races on McGaw (I Am Immortal), who was a $14,000 purchase and brought up a double on another modest buy.
“It’s amazing. As I touched on earlier, it’s what everyone who races horses dreams about is these sorts of races,” Lane said.
“Reece Goodwin, to take a chance on a tried horse and have her going so well this late in her career, it’s just credit to him and how he gets his horses going and keeps them up firing for so long and she’s just been a model of consistency all preparation.
“It’s just his attention to detail. He knows his horses. He’s very straightforward. He keeps things simple, and I think the horses appreciate that.”
Lane said the strong speed suited the adaptable Electric Belle.
“I just wanted to ride her with an open mind. She’s a horse who has raced well running on from the back, and I also put her on speed last start. To have a horse like that, you just need to be open-minded, ride the race as it comes; they went quick early in the middle stages, and I just thought this is going to work out perfectly.
“I went out with an open mind without expecting probably the solid speed for so long and as it turned out, it worked in her favour.”
By Power out of the four-win Danroad mare Kool Gal (NZ), Electric Belle was bred by Kara Waters, who along with partner Shane Crawford, runs Regal Farm in Cambridge.
Electric Belle was presented by Regal Farm at the 2019 New Zealand Bloodstock Ready To Run Sale, where she failed to meet her $30,000 reserve before crossing the Tasman.