Having been backed as if unbeatable, Ciaron Maher's Bella Nipotina rewarded favourite punters with a comfortable victory in the Group 1 Tatts Tiara (1400m) at Eagle Farm.
Having claimed the Group 1 Doomben 10,000 (1200m) before finishing second in the Group 1 Kingsford-Smith Cup (1300m) and Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap (1400m), the multiple Group 1 winning mare relished getting back to weight-for-age conditions against her own sex.
Sent around as a $1.95 favourite with horse racing bookmakers, Ryan Maloney had the superstar mare settled just off the speed in the three wide line after jumping from barrier 15.
Having gained a beautiful tow into the race approaching the home turn, Bella Nipotina ambled up alongside race leader Bubble Rock ($19) and quickly went past her.
Stablemate Semana ($10) trailed Bella Nipotina wherever she went, but couldn't match her turn of foot and had to settle for for her third Group 1 placing in her 19 start career.
Having claimed the race in 2015 with Srikandi, Ciaron Maher showed plenty of emotion as per usual following yet another Group 1 success, his 46th at the highest level.
“She's phenomenal – what she's done,” said Maher.
“I thought we'd come up here (Queensland) for maybe one run and maybe have a crack at 14 (hundred) and the Tiara but to run in all four and be as good in the last as she was in the first, phenomenal.
“That's on the back of going to Perth and running in the autumn in Sydney.
“We'll work back from the Everest, she probably has a run beforehand.
“She'll go back out to Embrook now and freshen up, they'll look after her, have a couple weeks off and then start ticking over again.”
With regular jockey Craig Williams currently carrying out his humanitarian aid mission in Ukraine, Ryan Maloney was called upon by Maher and his staff, and he rewarded them once again at Group 1 level having guided Socks Nation to a massive QLD Oaks upset earlier in the month.
“She obviously loves racing, I saw her during the week and I couldn't believe how well she keeps her condition, you would never know she's deep into a prep like she is and she's travelled all over Australia,” Maloney said.
“Hats off to her, Ciaron, and his team. I was just the fortunate one to be able to pick her up.”
“She began beautifully and I thought ‘this is going to work out perfect'. There was good, genuine speed.
“I was hoping Blake (Shinn) would kick out and leave Michael (Rodd) three deep and hopefully have a bit of cover, but in the end it really didn't matter.
“She toyed with them. She got into a nice enough rhythm and good horses do what they do, they just know how to win.”
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