Hedged wins TL Cooney on Ipswich Cup Day for Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr

Trainer Mick Bell, now working for Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr, was on hand to watch Hedged race to victory at Ipswich on Saturday.

Hedged winning the TL Cooney at Ipswich Picture: Grant Peters

Jungle Edge’s larrikin trainer Mick Bell had to head to an op shop to buy some more jackets for the trip north to the Queensland winter carnival and it was worthwhile when he was the front man as Hedged scored at Ipswich.

Victorian Bell, noted for his training feats with retired popular mudlark Jungle Edge, has a new gig working for Mick Price and Michael Kent Jr and he was on track as Hedged won the $120,000 TL Cooney (1350m) at Ipswich.

Hedged drifted from $2.40 to $3.40 and it looked like backers could have been in trouble when the three-year-old son of Capitalist was on one rein the whole race as he gave Vlad Duric a troublesome ride.

But Hedged was never headed and held off the strong late charge of Rex Lipp-trained Cifrado ($8.50) which is now almost certainly bound for the Group 3 Winx Guineas over 1600m at the Sunshine Coast in a fortnight.

Bell loves playing guitar but reckons he is a better singer and he would have felt like bursting into song when Hedged went all the way in front of the big crowd at Ipswich.

Price says he has been happy to leave his winter carnival team in Bell’s safe hands, saying “he’s a very good horseman and a great bloke.”

And Bell was delighted to get an Ipswich win for the team.

“I’m winding down my stable, and I’ll take a permanent job with Mick (Price) and Mick (Kent Jr),” Bell said.

Trainer Mick Bell

“I started with them two days before I came up here to Queensland, so it all happened very quickly but I’m really enjoying it and they’re good people to work for.

“They are very good horsemen and they have very good horses.

“When Mick (Price) spoke to Vlad this morning, he told him to give him a dig early to get him going out of the gates.

“The plan wasn’t necessarily to lead, but that’s just how it worked out.”

Meanwhile, multiple Group 1 winning jockey Samantha Collett escaped serious injury after plunging off her mount Tuki Twelve in the second Ipswich race.

Races were delayed for a short time while Collett, who was complaining of a sore arm, was transported to hospital by ambulance and officials called for a replacement ambulance.

Collett had been meant to ride Cocobrew Express in the following race but Nikita Beriman scored the pick-up ride on the Gold Coast-trained galloper which won as a $7.50 chance.

Originally published as Hedged wins TL Cooney on Ipswich Cup Day for Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr