Wishing Belle steps up yet again to nab Diamond Classic

Star filly Wishing Belle (Bettors Wish) continued her meteoric rise with yet another awesome harness racing display of power pacing to take out the Group 2 $100,000 Group  Trotsynd Two Year Old Fillies Diamond Classic Final at Gloucester Park on Friday evening.

A prohibitive hot favourite due to her effortless heat win at Gloucester Park ten days before, Wishing Belle with her head right up against the mobile gate showed dazzling speed to burn off her rivals and take up the front running.

Crunchnsip who was the only other backed to test Wishing Belle made use of her pole draw to take up the trail behind Wishing Belle.

Aiden De Campo on Wishing Belle allowed the filly to run along in the lead without any real exertion and it was obvious she would run a fast last half mile.

Im Category Five who won her Heat was forced to race three wide early before having to race outside the leader.

After allowing Wishing Belle to run her first two quarters in 31 and 30.3 seconds, De Campo released the brakes and coming off the back she sprinted clear and the race was never in doubt. Running her last quarter in a leisurely 28 seconds Wishing Belle had five metres to spare over Crunchnsnip who fought on well for second with Im Category Five showing plenty of grit in holding on for third.

WISHING BELLE AUG 8 REPLAY

De Campo commented after the event

“She’s just a horse that does everything right. She’s a pleasure to train. AJ has done most of the work with her coming through as a yearling and a two year old. She hasn’t put a foot wrong the whole time and keeps getting better and better”.

Wishing Belle has now won six of her seven starts for just under $146,000 in prize money and has proved a bargain for her connections who through De Campo purchased her for $55,000 at the 2024 Perth APG yearling sale. On the strength of domination of fillies races she looks to be well suited for future two year old classics that De Campo has planned for her.

Indeed Wishing Belle is a very special filly and all eyes will be on her as she continues her quest for classics success. She would be a wonderful attraction if her connections could be tempted to bring her over to the Eastern states but De Campo has to contemplate that there is a wealth of classic racing locally for her to remain in the West.

The win completed a perfect night for De Campo as in the previous event he steered outstanding pacer Magnificent Storm (American Ideal) to an easy win in the Open Class pace. The win was especially special for veteran trainer Ray Williams who also celebrated his 80^th birthday. Magnificent Storm is in ominous form for the forthcoming feature open class races over the remaining season.

For complete race results, click here.

By Tony Milanese for Harnesslink