Wife’s win a cherry in Kelly triple treat
LES Kelly has seen plenty of his horses flash past the post first at the Gold Coast Turf Club but few wins have been as special to the veteran trainer as Aggravate’s victory in the Pink Ribbon Cup.
The four-year-old Redoute’s Choice gelding beat Star Justice by just over two lengths, justifying his position as favourite in the 1100m feature race on Saturday.
But it was not the performance alone that had Kelly – and wife Christine – so chuffed.
Kelly trained three winners on Saturday’s card and had Ruler finish second by half a length in the South Coast Radiology Class 2 Handicap in a strong showing in the Pink Ribbon Race Day, which raised funds for breast cancer.
“Aggravate was the most special one because my wife’s a sufferer of breast cancer as well,” Kelly said.
“She’s been suffering breast cancer for the last nine years and we really wanted to win that race for her. “It was a special moment.” Kelly’s wife Christine, who is now in remission after a long battle with the disease, is also a part-owner of Aggravate, giving the couple double reason to celebrate. “It was great, it was just something special,” Kelly said.
“In racing you have special days and that was just a special one.”
And Kelly believes Aggravate is a special horse.
“He’s definitely going to win in the metropolitan area, he’s just been unlucky his last couple of runs,” he said. “He’s got caught up in traffic and probably when he gets over a little bit more ground he’ll be much better too. I think he can easy run 1400m.”
Kelly had a win in the first race, with She’s a Youeffoh taking out the Lexus Melbourne Cup Tour Class 4 Handicap over 1800m.
“I’ve got a lot of time for She’s A Youeffoh,” he said.
“I think she’s a very promising stayer. We’ll be aiming her for city races from here on in.”