Trainer finally reaches milestone

DESPITE popular racecaller Fred Hastings jinxing him, Chris Judd reached a personal milestone at Club Menangle yesterday.

Stranded on 99 wins for longer than he’d like, Judd finally cracked the ton thanks to Love A Belle’s upset victory.

“I’d been stuck on 99 for a while and Fred kept mentioning it before races, but I kept getting beaten…I think he was jinxing me,” Judd joked. “I nearly called him and asked him to stop pointing out I was going for my 100th win.

“I am glad to finally get there. It’s not something you worry about along the way, but it is nice to knock it off.”

With Jye Coney holding the reins, Love A Belle was eased away from barrier four to be settled three-back along the pegs as You Are My Wish led from gate six.

Angled through traffic turning for home, the daughter of Rock N Roll Heaven unleashed a solid sprint to score by a head from You Are My Wish, with Has The Courage a neck away third.

Paying $26 on the Tote, Love A Belle covered the mile in 1:52.6.

“She was at long odds so I wasn’t expecting her to win, but at the same time, it didn’t surprise me,” Judd said. “She’s a nice sit and sprint mare when drven cold.

“She also probably likes Menangle better as I can take the spreaders off of her around such a spacious track and she has run some good races there in the past.

“I haven’t really looked ahead with her, but at this stage, I’ll keep punching her around on Tuesdays.”