Owner Peter Wood has faith teen rider Bella Youngberry can pull off miracle result in Grafton Cup in $101 outsider Pure Deal

Owner Peter Wood believes a fairytale can happen in Thursday’s Grafton Cup with his $101 outsider Pure Deal as he puts his faith in a young rider.

Pure Deal, winning a jumps race at Warrnambool in 2023, is a $101 outsider in the Grafton Cup on Thursday. Picture: Racing Photos via Getty Images

“Fairytales don’t happen unless you allow them to happen.”

This is the creed that Pure Deal owner Peter Wood lives by and why he has placed his trust in teenager Bella Youngberry to ride the seven-year-old gelding in the $200,000 Listed Grafton Cup (2350m) on Thursday.

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The 19-year-old Youngberry rode Pure Deal to a narrow victory in a diving finish at $61 odds in the Grafton Cup Prelude (2230m) on July 6 to book a spot in the main event, where the daughter of Queensland Channel 9 weather presenter Garry Youngberry is ready to step up again.

The son of Dundeel is a $101 chance in the Grafton Cup but that won’t stop Wood, Gold Coast hoop Youngberry and trainer Brett Bellamy from believing that fairytales can happen to them.

Wood already has a Grafton Cup on his CV after Rednav saluted in the 2016 edition at $31 after winning the cup prelude the week before.

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“Bella has got good ability and I like to back the apprentices,” said Wood, who lives in the tiny village Coramba, just a 15-minute drive from Coffs Harbour racetrack.

“If you watch the way she rode that horse in the prelude, you couldn’t knock the ride in any shape or form.

“I never even thought about whether or not to put her in the (Grafton) Cup. I simply said to her ‘if you want the ride, it’s yours’.

“She’s got the horse happy and the horse goes for her. It responds to everything that she wants it to do.”

Pure Deal's owner Peter Wood (centre) with his brother John (left) and son Daniel at Eagle Farm last September.

The last five Grafton Cups have been won by Group 1-winning jockeys but Wood sees the glass as half-full, saying it’s overdue for a lesser light to grab the spoils.

Blake Shinn, with 31 Group 1s to his name, is undoubtedly the star hoop in Thursday’s field and will ride $4.40 chance Belvedere Boys for trainer Matt Dunn.

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“Just the ride itself for Bella and the experience is going to help her tenfold,” Wood said about Youngberry, who is in only her second season of riding.

“We need to let these apprentices experience what it’s all about. They can’t do it if they don’t get the chance.

“There’s absolutely no way I would have considered another jockey given the work that Bella has already put into the horse.

“You’ve got to weigh 54kg so that limits who you can get as well. In the end it wasn’t a hard decision. She won’t let us down, whether we win, lose or draw.”

Bella Youngberry riding a winner at Cairns in September last year. Picture: Brendan Radke

Wood paid just $1500 last month from an online Inglis Sale for Pure Deal, who raced across southeast Queensland from 2020 to 2022 for Brisbane trainer Bevan Laming before being sent to Victoria to compete, mainly in jumps and hurdles races.

His previous race before the Grafton Cup Prelude was a 3400m hurdle event at Sandown Lakeside on June 1.

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Wood said he was cashed up after winning his first Highway race as an owner when Lordster saluted over 1200m at Rosehill on July 5, and he took the $61 odds on offer for Pure Deal the following day in the cup prelude.

“He’s been rejuvenated working on the beaches at Coffs Harbour,” Wood said.

“There’s no reason not to run him on Thursday at Grafton. He’s an outsider and you’d have to say it’ll be a huge ask.

“But we’ve got a horse who’s feeling good and he’ll definitely run the distance.”

Originally published as Owner Peter Wood has faith teen rider Bella Youngberry can pull off miracle result in Grafton Cup in $101 outsider Pure Deal