Captain Bellasario hangs on in for his third Menangle success

Former Victorian Captain Bellasario (Captaintreacherous) held on in a heart stopping finish to take out the BestInBeds pace at Menangle on Saturday night.

In his previous races Captain Bellasario had been eased back and had to come from well back. However on Saturday night harness racing driver Luke McCarthy decided to hunt him up towards the front early from barrier 7 but he could not keep out the speedy Bainbridge who eventually crossed in the lead.

Favourite Miki Pins who always races fresh also commenced well enough but driver Cameron Hart elected to sit three back on the rails. He was then pocketed with The Answer went around the field to race without cover.

CAPTAIN BELLASARIO 21 MAR REPLAY

In the meantime Captain Bellasario had enjoyed the perfect trail and he peeled out at the top of the straight where Bainbridge was still giving plenty of cheek in the lead. However Captain Bellasario had the momentum down the straight to draw past Bainbridge only for Miki Pins to issue a last gasp challenge.

But the post was just too close and Captain Bellasario held on to win by half a head from Miki Pins who would have won in another stride with Bainbridge battling on for third. The last quarter was in a fast 26.8 seconds and an overall time of 1.52 for the mile.

Captain Bellasario is raced by Jayne Davies and Noel Alexander and Davies formerly trained the eight year old gelding. He was regarded as a consistent pacer without setting the world on fire but in December 2022 he scored his best win taking out the VicBred Four Year Old Final beating a highly fancied field.

The gelding still produces a strong sprint and is obviously suited by the spacious Menangle circuit.

Captain Bellasario’s dam the Bettors Delight mare Bellasario was a useful mare in her own right winning 12 races and going 1.55.5. She also produced the handy filly Rio Rock.

Luke McCarthy commented after the event

I know he’s got good speed and he likes that Menangle mile racing. I’ve been drawn bad on him and I’ve had to take him back. Tonight there didn’t look to be a lot of gate speed on the inside of us with the better ones outside. So I let him stride across and he handled it well. He went good. Being a 105 race I was hoping it wasn’t going to be a strong race but it was still quite a good field.

I’m really happy with the result. Noel and Jayne (the owners will be very happy). And it’s always good to win races here on a Saturday night.

For complete Menangle race results, click here.

by Tony Milanese, for Harnesslink