The saying ‘mares in form are hard to beat’ rings true for 5YO mare Heavenly Bridges who has hit a rich vein of form of her own of late.
After two wins in a row at Yarra Valley, the bright city lights of The Valley were calling and the speedster race that is the Ladbrokes 55 Second Challenge. On January 22, Will Price took over the reins and ‘Polly’, as she is affectionately known, showed she wasn’t to be outclassed with a credible third behind the smart Lindsey Smith trained Elderflower.
Henry holds the opinion that Heavenly Bridges is a horse that thrives on racing, so a week later she backed up again in Heat 12 of the 955 metre dash, and while there was no Elderflower, there was still some stiff competition in the likes of city winner Ice Ice Baby, ridden by the formidable Jamie Kah.
But if there is another jockey that loves The Valley as much as Kah, it’s young Will Price. From Barrier 1, Heavenly Bridges flew the lids but was taken on for the lead by Young Liam, happily taking a trail as they headed down the chute and around the camber.
In the blink of an eye, ‘Polly’ swooped around the leader and put paid to the field, running a time of 56.37, just outside the winning time of 54.54 held by the McEvoy trained speedster Meteorite. While it won’t see Henry collect a $55,000 bonus from Ladbrokes, winners were still grinners as Kate Sadler, representing the stable and Byerley Racing Club, claimed the win trackside.
“She was super tonight,” said Price.
“The intention was to lead, but I could see Jordy [Childs] really wanted the front so I was happy to pop off and give her a clear run… she travelled up beautifully and let down really well.
“The horse is going really well and it’s good to see her come on again from last start.”
“I think she is racing in career best form,” said Henry post-race, with the $15,000 purchase now having won $154,000 in prizemoney.
“The race panned out beautifully for her, our intention was to lead but when that wasn’t going to happen, Will took the initiative and made the leader work, putting a nice space between them and the rest of the field.
“She was really strong through the line, which has been a hallmark of her last few runs.”
Life becomes a little tougher now for Heavenly Bridges, with her rating to rise to Benchmark 70 class, with the Flat Knacker at Albury in March a potential option, a chance for the stable to defend it’s crown won by Mister Mogul last year.