The Valley - Saturday 25th September 2020

4 SPEEDSTER BELLA VELLA SEEKING VALLEY GROUP 1 GLORY When Jamie Kah left South Australia in 2019 to make her mark in Victoria’s riding ranks, she could not have imagined how a brief encounter with unknown mare would have such a big impact on her career. Dark in colour, the mare arrived into the Will Clarken barn with little fanfare and even smaller expectations. While Kah was about to depart her hometown of 23 years for the bright city lights of Melbourne, Bella Vella was just arriving at what was her third home in just five short years. “She arrived not long before I was leaving and I rode ‘Bella’ at trackwork a few times, but she had a few breathing issues and Will (Clarken) was tinkering with her gear,” Kah recalled of her early encounter with Bella Vella. Those little issues did not take long for Clarken to sort out and by her second start for the new stable at her home track at Morphettville, she romped in as a three-length winner, recouping her purchase price and more. Quite the feat given her backstory, yet this was just the beginning of her new chapter. So, let’s uncover that back story… Originally a $100,000 purchase at the Magic Millions yearling sales in 2016 for breeder Graham Watson, Bella Vella won four sprint races on country tracks under three different trainers, all the while earning $74,145 in prizemoney. After 17 career starts and in the spring of 2018, Bella Vella was officially retired to begin her life as a broodmare and was sent off to commence her new role by being served by Sebring stallion Criterion. An excellent runner as a multiple Group 1 winner, including a Cox Plate placing behind Winx in 2015, Criterion hasn’t delivered in his stud career through a poor fertility rating and Bella Vella failed to get in foal. With this news in hand, owners sent Bella Vella to the Inglis Digital online sale in April 2019 and it was there Will Clarken’s client John Kelton forked out a mere $22,500 for the daughter of Commands. The Inglis advertisement read – “Bella Vella has the looks, race record, sire and pedigree to add value to any commercial broodmare band” – what it would fail to mention was that she was ready to head back to the racetrack and display a toughness that Clarken has seen many times since. She was officially out of retirement and heading back to the races to restart her career as a five-year-old. Bella Vella started to create some chatter in her home state of Adelaide when stable jockey Todd Pannell rode her to two city victories, but it wasn’t until October that year, when Kah was reunited with the mare since their brief meeting at trackwork, that people stood up and took notice of the speedster. It was Ladbrokes Manikato Stakes Night at The Valley no less and a Ladbrokes 55 Second Challenge Heat, a mad dash over 955 metres that sees the crowd on course hold their breath as jockeys ride hell for leather. Kah insists Clarken’s instructions on every horse are the same, rinse and repeat, “good luck, don’t push, don’t pull”. With no pushing and no pulling, Bella Vella clocked a series leading time of 55.10 in the heat in front of a packed house heaving at the cauldron that is night racing at The Valley. A new holy trinity was born – Bella Vella, Jamie Kah and The Valley. It just worked. “She just pings the barriers and puts herself on speed, nice and positive with her head to the ground, that’s why I think she takes to The Valley,” Kah says. When asked to explain her own bond with Bella Vella. “We’re just both two crazy fillies,” Kah laughs. Those two crazy fillies have since conquered all before them and now boast an unbeaten hat-trick of wins when it comes to teaming up at The Valley. That time off 55.10 would eventually be beaten in March by Bella Vella herself in the final heat, leaving