Happy to wait on Belle decision

LINDSAY Park has reserved its decision between The Valley and Flemington for exciting Magic Millions 2YO Classic filly Croatian Belle for another 24 hours.

Croatian Belle bolted in at The Valley on debut to enter the Gold Coast frame but the first prize, $33,000 to the winner excluding bonuses, was not enough to go directly to the $2m feature.

Croatian Belle, currently 27th in the 2YO Classic order of entry, must finish inside the top three in either two-yearold handicap, The Valley or Flemington, to boost her Millions currency.

Trainer Ben Hayes on Thursday said both options remained in contention, with a “slight leaning” towards The Valley.

“If she picks up the $13,500 (third place prizemoney) it gets her to $47,000 and puts her right on the cusp, if she comes second ($27,000) we’re in, and if she wins ($82,500) we’re in easy,” Hayes said.

“Ideally we would like to go straight to the Gold Coast but unfortunately the race we won, with all the big prizemoney races, it’s hard to get in.

“We’re very happy to run her, she’s in very good order, we have accepted in both races and we got to look at both and choose the most suitable for her.

“There’s pros and cons for both races … we’ve just got to wait another 24 hours.”

Croatian Belle is the equal $3.40 favourite with TAB for the 1000m race at The Valley, alongside Nick Ryan-trained first-starter Mansiere.

Mansiere trialled brilliantly last week to warrant the strong market support.

Croatian Belle, equally, could not have been more impressive on debut, winning by 2.4 lengths under a hold.

“I’m not too worried, twoyear-old trial form is very different to race form,” Hayes said.