Cranbourne trainer Mick Bell has the Stradbroke Handicap in his sights for Jungle Edge who scored an all the way win in the Group 3 $125,000 Taxibox BRC Sprint (1350m) at Doomben today.
Jungle Edge, above winning at Rosehill, led all of the way to win the BRC Sprint at Doomben. Photo by Steve Hart.
Winning jockey Kevin Forrester had no hesitation in taking the noted wet tracker straight to the front on the heavy 8 rated track and the six year old was never headed to record a comfortable win.
Jungle Edge ($6.50) had plenty in reserve when heads were turned for home and found another gear to score easing down by two and a quarter lengths from High Midnight ($21) and Ulmann ($3.90) who was running on late out wide.
The $3.60 favourite Splurge was always near the tail of the field and could only beat one runner home to finish ninth.
The much travelled Jungle Edge has covered a lot of territory since leaving his Cranbourne base in late February but has picked up all his travel expenses plus more with a win in the Group 3 $150,000 E-Group Security Star Kingdom Stakes (1200m) at Rosehill on March 25 followed by a third to Tivaci in the Group 1 $600,000 Schweppes All Aged Stakes (1400m) at Randwick on April 15.
Bell then took Jungle Edge to Warrnambool where he ran fifth to Ulmann in the Listed $150,000 Wangoon Handicap (1200m) on May 3 before heading to Brisbane for the Winter Carnival.
Bell is hoping to pick up some more prizemoney with Jungle Edge who he plans to run in the Group 1 $700,000 Darley Kingsford Smith Cup (1300m) at Eagle Farm next week and then two weeks later in the Group 1 $1.5m Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) at Eagle Farm again.
“He is not the first half decent horse I have had but he is the certainly the best,” Bell said.
“He just keeps getting better and better. He is scary how good he is.”
“We were actually going to run next week first in the Darley Kingsford Smith but when the rain happened I came week early.
“I put off some knee surgery I was supposed to have on Wednesday and I am glad we came.”
“The plan at the moment is to run next week and two weeks again into the Stradbroke.”
“He just needs the sting out of the ground but on a heavy track he is exceptional.”
BRC Sprint Results
| Finish | No. | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Margin | Bar. | Weight | Starting Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | JUNGLE EDGE | Mick Bell | Kevin Forrester | – | 9 | 58kg | $6.50 |
| 2 | 13 | HIGH MIDNIGHT | James Cummings | Glyn Schofield | 2.3L | 8 | 56.5kg | $21 |
| 3 | 5 | ULMANN | Darren Weir | John Allen | 2.4L | 1 | 56.5kg | $3.90 |
| 4 | 15 | HANDFAST | Darren Bean | Brenton Avdulla | 5.7L | 2 | 56.5kg | $21 |
| 5 | 2 | SIR MOMENTS | Steven O’dea | Damian Browne | 6.1L | 10 | 57.5kg | $12 |
| 6 | 4 | SNIPPETS LAND | Peter & Paul Snowden | Hugh Bowman | 6.3L | 3 | 56.5kg | $10 |
| 7 | 6 | FEDERAL | Darren Bean | James Doyle | 9.6L | 7 | 56.5kg | $9.50 |
| 8 | 10 | MAN OF HIS WORD | Bruce W Hill | Tim Clark | 10.9L | 4 | 56.5kg | $20 |
| 9 | 8 | SPLURGE (NZ) | Stephen Autridge & Jamie Richards | Opie Bosson | 11L | 6 | 56.5kg | $3.60F |
| 10 | 14 | JOPA | Robert Heathcote | Corey Brown | 13.8L | 5 | 56.5kg | $31 |
