Williams gets another shot at history with Bella of the ball
It is not every day a horse that has the chance to take her career earnings beyond $20m becomes a support act.
Bella Nipotina won The Everest last start, and now has the chance to become the second-highest earning Australian racehorse behind Winx should she win the Russell Balding Stakes, which includes some lucrative bonuses.
Bella Nipotina (right) holds off Giga Kick (left) in The Everest.Credit: Getty Images
While all eyes and headlines this week have rightfully focused on the Golden Eagle and Japanese horses and Joao Moreira and Brazilian dancers and drummers and barrier draws, Bella Nipotina has a shot at history come 4pm on Saturday.
Having already amassed $18,811,624 in prizemoney, Bella Nipotina will overtake Nature Strip ($20,755,018) to sit behind wonder mare Winx, who finished with $26,451,175. First prizemoney in the Russell Balding is worth $1.725m, while there would be $1.7m from Sportsbet bonuses, which includes winning the Everest, taking Bella Nipotina’s purse to $22,236,635.
Jockey Craig Williams was aware his seven-year-old was meant to peak in The Everest, but she was more than capable of continuing her amazing run.
“If she holds her form from the other day, I can’t see them beating her – if she improves and comes on with confidence, it’s scary to see how good she will be,” Williams said.
“She was successful in this race last year, [trainer] Ciaron Maher and his stable are so happy with her, and all she was ever going to get out of the other day was more confidence.
“The horses we beat in this race last year were the horses who fought out The Everest, and we didn’t go to the Everest.
“I feel like Bella Nipotina is in the form she is in because Ciaron was a bit more conservative with her preparation 12 months ago, and you’re now seeing the huge benefits.
“I can’t put a margin on how much confidence she got out of The Everest win.
“She relishes softer ground, but she won this race last year on a very firm track. If she got softer ground it only enhances her capabilities. She’s flying at the moment. The way she performed, the way she felt and the way she moved in The Everest, she’s gone to another level, a four-time group 1 winner, so she’s a bloody good horse.”
Australia’s equine top earners
1 Winx $26,451,175
2 Nature Strip $20,755,018
3 Bella Nipotina $18,811,624
4 Redzel $16,444,000
5 Verry Elleegant $14,886,619
Williams has been in the saddle for six of Bella Nipotina’s 10 career wins, including three of her four group 1 triumphs.
If anything, Bella Nipotina was getting easier to ride with age, said Williams.
“She’s usually like, ‘don’t touch me, leave me alone’, but she’s actually got friendlier – she’s happy and loving what she’s doing,” Williams said.
Private Eye, Sunshine In Paris, Lady Laguna and Bella Nipotina’s stablemate I Am Me are all backing up from the Everest into the Russell Balding Stakes.
Williams will also ride the Ciaron Maher-trained Southport Tycoon in the feature Golden Eagle, and said: “He’s a dual group 1 winner, he’s won at 1200m and a mile, he beat me in the Manikato [on runner-up Growing Empire], and all his runs have been excellent this preparation.
“This race is an international race, it’s hotly contested, but I have a really good horse in Southport Tycoon.”
Two Japanese horses, an English horse and unbeaten French galloper give the Golden Eagle a strong foreign flavour, while Williams will ensure Ukraine will be recognised on his riding silks.
Williams and his Ukrainian wife, Larysa, have dedicated hundreds of hours to raising awareness about Russia’s war on their eastern European neighbours – and raised more than $2.5m, largely through the racing industry, for trauma kits, food and water for the locals.
“People in Australia give a damn about the Ukrainian people’s struggle for survival – if I don’t win my race today, I still get a chance tomorrow; if they don’t win theirs, they don’t exist,” Williams said.
“Their neighbour believes they shouldn’t exist. That’s so hard to comprehend when we’ve been lucky enough to be raised in Australia.
“I might have the second-most dangerous job in sport, but when you’re fighting for survival and trying to defend your family and friends … you realise nobody wins in war, someone just loses less; someone said, ’if Russia stops fighting, the war ends, if Ukraine stops fighting, they end.”