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  • Friday, 07 Apr, 2023,
  • by Peter Quilty

Bali Ha’i in Ballarat Cup

Daniel Gibbons and his family are currently holidaying in Bali.

But they were on ‘their own special island’ when Kelsey Bale put the ‘sunlight on the sand’ in the $78,795 Group 2 Sportsbet Ballarat Cup (450m) on Friday night.

Following a 35-minute delay to race start time due to inclement weather, Kelsey Bale – in the lyrics of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific – revealed “there’s nothin’ like a dame” with a ‘nothing in the world’ victory in the $50,000 to-the-winner event.

Kelsey Bale was last approaching the home turn, but her rivals watched her ‘soft and wavy frame’ flash past them in 25.14sec of power-laden sprinting excellence.

Kelsey Bale ($7.20) defeated the ‘King of Healesville’ Unleash Collinda ($4.80) by 0.7L, with her litter brother – Quinlan Bale ($6.20) – a further 0.6L away third.

It was her 20th win (with 16 seconds and seven thirds) from 60 starts and her stakes catapulted to $292,140. It was her third win from four starts over 450m at Ballarat.

Kelsey Bale (Jun ’20 Feral Franky x Ethla Allen) was the only female in the final.

She became only the fifth member of the fairer sex to take out the Ballarat Cup in the past two decades – emulating 2006 Witch Magic ($2.90F), 2010 Greta Bale ($8.10), 2011 Up And Away ($6.80) and 2015 Shared Equity ($9.40).

A 10-time Group race finalist – including wins in last year’s G2 Laurels Classic and G3 Silver Bullet – Kelsey Bale is renowned for her freakish ability.

She was also third in this year’s G1 Temlee and third in last year’s G1 Maturity Classic.

It’s been a huge week for ‘Team Gibbons’ as Titan Blazer took out the G3 Mount Gambier Cup last Sunday.

The other feature race winners on Ballarat Cup night were:

Thank You Rob Phillips (660m) – VALOR BALE ($2.20) – 37.97sec (T: Mark Delbridge)

Life Member’s Trophy (450m) – SIR BINGO ($3.80F) – 25.63sec (T: Trent Blacker)

Good Friday Appeal Cup (390m) – ACTION GIRL ($1.90F) – 22.05sec (T: Gary Peach)

Autumn Classic (450m) – PAUA OF SILENCE ($4.10) – 25.14sec (T: Steven White)

Frank Murphy Memorial (545m) – STOUT MONELLI ($2.80) – 30.82sec (T: David Geall)

Sportsbet Cup Night Match Race (450m) – REJUVENATE ($1.04F) – 25.08sec (T: Paul Brown)

WATCH: “What a win!” KELSEY BALE (B7) comes from the clouds to claim the Ballarat Cup.

Peter QuiltyPeter Quilty

Peter Quilty

Peter Quilty has more than three decades of experience as assistant editor of Victorian Greyhound Weekly. He was editor of GRV monthly magazine The Adviser (2001-09) and owner/publisher of Australian Greyhound Monthly. He also served on the selection panel for the inaugural GRV ‘Hall of Fame’ inductees and for several years was an adjudicator on the Victorian GOTY. He’s also published greyhound racing yearbooks and wrote the ‘Bold Trease’ video script.

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