Noble looks for improvement from star pair

[Chief Stipe]

Karaka trainer Lance Noble will take two strong Group One chances to Ellerslie tomorrow and he is hoping they can improve off their last-start runs at Matamata a fortnight ago.

Stakes-winning filly Bavella will contest the Sistema Stakes in the colours of Cambridge Stud principals Brendan and Jo Lindsay, who previously owned race sponsors Sistema Plastics.

The daughter of Snitzel was unbeaten heading into the Gr. 2 Matamata Breeders’ Stakes last month and Noble cited a tardy beginning as the main factor to her unplaced finish.

“Nothing went right for her,” he said. “She hadn’t had a run for three months, so she was a little bit fresh.

“She caught the gates at the wrong time, half a stride slow, and as she jumped out the outside horse and the inside horse sort of wiped her out. We got further back than we intended and from there the race was really over the way it was run.

“You are obviously disappointed when you are going in as favourite and you have been unbeaten, but when you weigh it all up, the run wasn’t as bad as it probably seemed.”

Noble said Bavella has improved with the run and he is looking forward to lining her up for her first Group One assignment.

“She has improved with the run fitness-wise, so I think we will see the real Bavella,” he said. “If she can recapture the form that she showed at Counties when she won, we have got to be in there somewhere.”

While confident heading into the race, Noble said Bavella will have to overcome the best of her age group.

“Now we are seeing the cream of the two-year-old crop together for the first time, both fillies and colts, so it’s interesting,” Noble said. “It’s definitely not going to be easy.

“If she gets a flyer, like she usually jumps, hopefully we are able to get across and not get trapped three-wide, but that’s always the risk.

“But that’s why we have Leith (Innes) riding. He is a big race rider, he knows her and he’ll give her the best run he can.”

Stablemate Prince Jabeel has undergone a meteoric rise this season that will result in a tilt at the Gr. 1 Barfoot & Thompson Auckland Cup tomorrow.

The five-year-old son of Savabeel began the season in maiden company and has gone on to win the Gr. 3 City of Auckland Cup on New Year’s Day and place in the Gr. 3 Wellington Cup later in January.

He went into the Listed Kaimai Stakes at Matamata last month in a fresh state and Noble said nothing went right on the way to his unplaced run.

“He’d had a freshen-up and the track was soft, which he doesn’t like, he wants it very firm.

“He played up in the starting gates, so he was slow away and because they rushed into that first corner he wasn’t quick enough to get to his usual position, so he got back in the field.

“When they came around the bend he copped a check, he wasn’t going to be threatening the winner, but it looked like he was going to make some solid ground.

“On paper it looked very disappointing, but watching it a few times afterwards I think he had a few excuses.”

Noble is hoping Prince of Jabeel can recapture his earlier form and cap off what has been a stellar season for the gelding.

“Back to Ellerslie, a firm track and two miles, I think he should go back to his form before Matamata and if he runs up to that then he should be in there somewhere.

“He has come a long way since the beginning of the season where he was a maiden and to now be in the Auckland Cup.

“It’s been a long season, but he looks great and he’s fit. He’s drawn wide again (14), he never seems to cop a decent draw in his life, but at least it gives us an option to roll forward if they slacken the speed.

“Win, lose or draw he will be in the paddock, but hopefully he can go out on a high.”

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