Trainer Les Kelly’s two-year-olds beat older horses at Gold Coast

TRAINER Les Kelly’s confidence to take on older horses with two-year-olds Calli­grapher and Snapchat Girl earned him a winning double at the Gold Coast yesterday.

Calligrapher, ridden by Jason Taylor, wins at the Gold Coast. Photo: Richard Gosling

TRAINER Les Kelly’s confidence to take on older horses with two-year-olds Calli­grapher and Snapchat Girl earned him a winning double at the Gold Coast yesterday.

Kelly has been back training at Les Cowell’s Ascot Lodge at the Gold Coast for just on a year after taking 17 months away from the game.

He had recent success with three-year-old Volpino who ran second in the Queensland Guineas and is likely to do his future racing in Hong Kong.

Snapchat Girl, who started $3.50 favourite after $14 was bet early by some corporate bookmakers, won an open fillies and mares maiden (1400m) by 5¼ lengths.

The filly cost $45,000 as a yearling but Kelly is sure she will quickly recoup that.

“She had no luck at her previous start and she has been looking for 1400 metres,” Kelly said.

“When I couldn’t find a 1400 metre two-year-old race I decided to take on the older mares.”

Calligrapher made it a race-to-race double when he scored in a Class 2 Handicap (900m).

Unlike Snapchat Girl, Calligrapher blew in betting to $10 even though Kelly thought he was a better chance than the filly in her race.

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Calligrapher was a $125,000 Inglis Premier Sales buy for James Harron Bloodstock.

He raced in Sydney in an Inglis Nursery race won by subsequent Golden Slipper winner She Will Reign and scored at Gosford for the Peter and Paul Snowden training partnership before being sold to a client of Kelly.

“After he failed first up for us we gelded him and that might make the difference,” Kelly said.

The winning connections of Calligrapher after the race. Photo: Richard Gosling

■ TASMANIAN trainer Aiden Nunn got some travelling expenses when Brilliant Jet won the Sky Racing Handicap (1800m).

Nunn, from Longford in the north of Tasmania, travels Australia playing polo and takes Brilliant Jet with him.

They started in Victoria and after Queensland will head to Sydney and then back to Melbourne.

“I would like to get Brilliant Jet’s rating up so I can get him into some of the better races at home. He was unlucky last start in the Gatton Cup when he didn’t handle the track,” Nunn said