All’s well that ends Wells for jumper
LOCAL jumper Wells showed he was on track to defend his Grand National Steeplechase crown with a tough win in the Mosstrooper at Bendigo yesterday.
The Kath Durden-trained nine-year-old was at his brilliant best in yesterday’s $100,000 slog, grinding down Zed Em to claim victory.
He will now head to the $125,000 Crisp (3900m) at Sandown on August 6 before progressing to the 4500m Grand National on August 21.
Durden was full of praise for her stable star, who has now won more than $800,000 in prizemoney.
“He is just a supreme horse, he is just so honest and he is a great stayer,” Durden said.
“We look after him, he is a horse you nurse along, but he is sound and everything is going along perfectly.”
Ridden to perfection by Richard Cully, Wells avoided trouble, and a riderless horse late, to edge out Patrick Payne’s Zed Em.
“Very well trained, travelled up, jumped great. A couple of hairy moments there when Johnny (Allen) fell off, but he’s just a very good horse,” Cully said of Wells, who had to lug 70kg to victory.
“The whole way he travelled good. I just had to squeeze him going around the bend, but I knew he’d stay.
“Zed Em had been up a long time, so I thought we were the fresh horse on the scene.”
Owner Sandy McGregor, of Prince Of Penzance fame, couldn’t help but marvel at Wells’ ability.
“He hadn’t had a race star when Craig and Kathryn got him. We bought him untried from Lloyd Williams out of the paddock,” McGregor said.
“He is one of the cheapest horses to come out of Lloyd Williams, and one of the best.”