BELLE Fever, unbeaten in four starts in her native Uruguay, made some history at Meydan on Thursday night when she became the first Uruguayan-bred to win in Dubai. Dubai World Cup winner Invasor was originally trained in Uruguay, but he was bred in Argentina.
Dane O’Neill steers Belle Fever to victory
Belle Fever contested the $100,000 Meydan Classic Trial over 1400m, her first attempt beyond 1000m, and she ran on strongly under a well-timed ride from jockey Dane O’Neill to win by a neck, but was going away in the last few stride and looks progressive.
A three-year-old filly by Texas Fever, Belle Fever joined Mike de Kock’s barn in Dubai last year, following a trip via Jane Chapple-Hyam’s yard at Newmarket, where she had surgery and was looked after in recovery.
Mike commented: “This was an amazing win for Uruguay, well done to owners Jorge Wagner and Victor Azambullu. They took a gamble, had the courage to send her here when they knew how arduous the trip would be and seeing that they could’ve kept her in Uruguay where she was beating everything.
“This reminded us of days gone by when we visited South America often and came back with horses that were competitive in Dubai.
“Belle Fever was courageous tonight after she played up a bit at the start, she’s a nice filly and was well prepared by our Dubai team of Declan Cronin, Shorty Feni and Thomas Ncume.”
- www.mikedekockracing.com
