THOROUGHBRED

CARABELLA went into Saturdays Group One feature at Addington Raceway with a better draw than her arch rival BETTOR COVER LOVER which was forced to cover extra ground during the running of the $100,000 PGG Wrightson Breeders Stakes held in Christchurch.

The Brendon Hill trained four year old was right on song for driver Ricky May who drove the daughter of BETTOR\'S DELIGHT straight to the front from the outset.

Brent Mangos and BETTOR COVER LOVER were always going to be on the back-foot from a second line draw, landing up parked outside the favourite with 1000m to run. It was Mangos who went for the stick first and went to the line second, CARABELLA easily holding BETTOR COVER LOVER at bay over the concluding stages. The margin between the pair was a length and a quarter with DONEGAL DELIGHT sticking on well for third. The winners time was a smart 3.12.5 in blustery conditions, the last 800 in 57.6 and final 400 in 29.1.

\"It was pretty tough out there in that wind,\" exclaimed driver Ricky May. \"I knew the other filly would be hard to beat even from a second row draw, you can\'t take anything away from her effort to get so close to us, but I was really pleased with my filly. Brendon\'s done a super job to get her spot-on for the day, her ears were flicking and I didn\'t even turn the stick, she won it quite easily in the finish.\"

Raced by Cavalla Bloodstock Ltd CARABELLA has fashioned an almost faultless race-day record having been beaten into second on only two occasions. Today\'s Group One win advanced her career statistics to 17 wins from 19 starts for stake earning of close to $700,00