In a training performance for the ages, Brad Munro has prepared Bel Academy for what can only be described as a remarkable victory in Thursday’s $75,000 James Kirby Quality (1000m) at Grafton’s Clarence River Jockey Club.
The six-year-old hadn’t been seen at the races for close to a year and had only started twice since late 2021, with ongoing hoof concerns meaning he finished down the track in the 2022 James Kirby before connections decided to give him a lengthy spell.
Despite starting as one of the despised outsiders at 30/1, Munro had Bel Academy fired up and ready to go in Grafton’s time-honoured sprint race.
With regular jockey Raymond Spokes in the saddle, the Bel Esprit gelding bounced out of gate six and led the field comfortably.
Turning for home, Spokes said he had a ‘Lap full of horse’ under him and that there was no catching the Coffs Harbour galloper, which put a margin on what was a quality field of sprinters, beating home the Gregory Hickman-trained Unwritten (Tyler Schiller, $9) in second and Neville Boyle-trained Greyworm (Mikayla Weir, $7.50) in third.
“At the 300m, I thought, ‘Nothing is going to catch him’,” Spokes said after the win.
“He did what we thought he would do, but just when they come back from an injury like that, you never know.”
Spokes pushed all the praise back onto the Munro stable, who have worked meticulously to have their sprinter sound and ready to race again.
“Brad and Jess (Munro); they both do a great job, and it is a big effort to get him back from the injury he had and for the owners to stick by them,” Spokes said.
“It’s just loyalty, and I had my first ever race ride for this owner.”
Munro was understandably emotional after the win and shined the light on Bel Academy’s resilience.
“I’m super proud, and words can’t explain,” Munro said.
“With the (hoof) troubles he had last year, and to get him back to the races, let alone win a race like this, it’s unbelievable.”
The Coffs Harbour trainer explained that a good spell made all the difference.
“He just had a lot of feet issues and stuff like that, and he couldn’t get over it,” Munro said.
“We gave him two starts last prep, but he just wasn’t right, and we had to give him a long spell to get him back and get his feet to grow out nice, and he’s come back super.”
Munro took his time and had the six-time winner ready, but he said a trial win at Grafton earlier this month ‘topped him off’ perfectly.
“I really needed to trial him, just to get the edge off him, which we got, and he pulled up super after the trial,” Munro said.
“We came to the races today, and I thought, he’s not sweating up as much, he’s usually pretty hot-headed, and he was hot today, but he was quite relaxed compared to normal.
“It was a little bit cheeky to think we might have had a super chance when the favourites pulled out, but to his credit, he won, and he won well.”
Bel Academy’s win in the James Kirby wrapped up a sensational Grafton Cup program.
The Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained Zoumon ($2.50) was a class above his rivals in the $200,000 Grafton Cup (2350m), with jockey Rachel King doing the job to make it back-to-back wins in the Northern Rivers feature.
The inaugural $50,000 Belfyer Class Six Plate (1175m) was won by the Matthew Dunn-trained Coco Rox (Ben Thompson, $2.80), while the $45,000 Springboard To Fame 2YO Showcase Plate (1200m) saw the Dwayne Schmidt-trained Invincible Alf (Ben Looker, $21) land a popular win.
The Grafton July Carnival continues Sunday, with the club hosting their Maclean Cup program.
For Thursday’s results, click here.
For Sunday’s fields, click here.
