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Belle du Nord’s trainers are behind the eight ball with their gifted filly, but they are far from panicking.
“She’s very well, but we haven’t been able to get as much work into her as we might have liked,” said Emma-Lee Browne, who prepares the daughter of Reliable Man with husband David.
“Like everyone else, we’re hoping the tracks improve, but at this stage we’re happy with her and her main aim is Riccarton.”
She was referring to the Gr.1 gavelhouse.com New Zealand 1000 Guineas at Riccarton on November 18 and Belle du Nord will take another step toward Christchurch when she runs in Saturday’s Gr.3 Hawke’s Bay Breeders’ Gold Trail Stakes.
“We’re all set for Hastings and looking forward to it,” Browne said. “She’s improving and safely through Saturday she’ll run in the Soliloquy Stakes or the Sarten Memorial.”
Belle du Nord was an impressive winner last season at Ellerslie and she was spelled after finishing runner-up behind champion two-year-old Melody Belle in the Gr.1 Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes at Awapuni.
She returned last month at Taupo where she came from the back of the field to beat all but Astor, with subsequent Listed O’Leary’s Fillies’ Stakes winner Dijon Bleu in third spot.
“We were really happy with her and she finished off well, it was a game effort,” Browne said.
Meanwhile, Belle du Nord’s stakes-placed stablemate Ja Ja Binks is back in work after a break following a trial outing in early August.
“She doesn’t like wet tracks so we gave her three weeks out after Te Teko,” Browne said.
“It’s done her the world of good and she looks fantastic. We’ll just wait for the weather to break before we look for something for her.” – NZ Racing Desk.