Pell Mell on target for $l00,000 Jarden Mile

Press, 12 January 1987, Page 29

Pell Mell on target for $l00,000 Jarden Mile

Special correspondent Wellington The Feilding trainer, Malcolm Smith, will be looking to extend his good record in Trentham’s major mile when Pell Mell-tackles the $lOO,OOO Jarden Mile at Trentham on January 24. As the Adams Mile, Tara’s Pride won the race for Smith in 1967 and then King’s Romance ran his record 1:33 to win in 1975. As well, Smith recalled on Saturday, Tara’s Pride recorded a second and third in the big race.

This time round, Smith will take the mare, Pell Mell, into the race with a fine background. The five-year-old daughter of Sound Reason and Mell has three wins, two

seconds and a third to show for six outings this season.

On Saturday at Woodville, Pell Mell won the Woodville-Pahiatua 1600 after overcoming a problem or two in the running. The week before she had taken the Best Travel Handicap at Hastings.

The Woodville-Pahiatua 1600 replaced the Breeders’ Stakes, “ an “open” weight-for-age race which is an event the club may care to review, given the disappointing response to the fillies’ and mares’ event on Saturday, which attracted only seven runners.

Not that the size of the field made much difference to Pell Mell. Smith and the rider, Noel Harris, have been keen to give her as much expert-

ence as possible by racing in a field. On Saturday she was settled back on the fence and for a time was blocked for a run as the field came round the final turn. When the gap came, Pell Mell went into it, but Harris had to use the whip to get her going at full stretch. The acceleration was then instant and her finishing run brought her a half-length success over Hayleen, which also finished well. Pell Mell has now won nine races from 22 starts and $43,325 in stakes While Harris has been Pell Mell’s regular rider this season, the Jarden mount is not yet confirmed. Harris’ final decision will depend on Magnitude’s effort in Wednes-

day’s $lO,OOO Beefeater Handicap (1600 m at Awapuni. Pell Mell is raced by John Benton, Howard Hunter and David Whale, of Wellington, along with Bill and Oily Goodwin, of Riddlesworth Stud, near Masterton, the home of Sound Reason. While Pell Mell is a Riddlesworth product, her background is very much White Robe Lodge Stud orientated. Mell is a daughter of Mellay and the Balloch mare, Lochlisten, the winner of seven races and the dam of nine winning foals. The pedigree in more recent times includes the good South Island winners, Auditory and Attentive, and Prince Trelay, a winner not long ago in the Central Districts.