After enduring a frustrating spring with Wrote To Arataki, Warrnambool trainer Matthew Williams mapped out a plan to strike fresh with the mare in a Stakes contest.
That strategy came to fruition on Saturday when Wrote To Arataki landed her second victory in the Group 3 Geoffrey Bellmaine Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield.
The success marked the fourth time the mare has contested the race, adding to her earlier win in 2023 when the Bellmaine was staged at Sandown.
Wrote To Arataki had previously finished fourth in the event in 2024 and kicked off her autumn campaign last year with a third-place finish at Caulfield.
Dean Yendall took full advantage of the mare’s natural speed, sending her straight to the front where she proved too strong, scoring by a length over Damask Rose ($7), with Bossy Benita ($5) another 1¾ lengths away in third.
Williams said the mare has rarely let the stable down throughout her career, despite illness disrupting her preparation last year.
“We’ve never had a soundness issue with her,” Williams said.
“She had a couple of little viruses there in the spring and we just couldn’t get her back right, so we had to pull up stumps.
“The owners have been very patient and were happy to do that and we just set her for this race.
“It’s a good way to start her program and she’s not a good traveller, so we don’t look to go anywhere interstate with her.
“Mares are very well catered for in Victoria if you can follow that program and she loves 1400 and 1600-metre races, so it works well and they’re on our backdoor.”
Williams explained a lingering cough through the spring led to a decision to give the mare additional time away from racing.
“We could have had a crack late in the spring and we felt for one race it wasn’t worth it, so we opted to pull up stumps and give her a bit more time in the paddock,” Williams said.
“It’s such a tight turnaround to get them back. She came back fresh and we were able to get a nice building preparation into her.
“Her jump-outs were good and the team have done a great job.”
Attention now turns to the Group 3 Frances Tressady Stakes (1400m) and the Group 3 Matron Stakes (1600m), both at Flemington, with markets for the Bellmaine available through leading Australian betting sites.
The post Wrote To Arataki claims a second Geoffrey Bellmaine Stakes first appeared on Just Horse Racing.