Some hard slog at trackwork at Cranbourne a year ago could provide an Epsom Handicap payday for jockey Tim Bell.
Not content with finishing in the top five on the Brisbane jockeys’ premiership in the 2011-12 season, Bell decided to put out some feelers during last year’s spring carnival in Melbourne.
While success on the track was only limited, Bell made some valuable contacts.
Among them was trainer Greg Eurell who has booked Bell to ride Your Honour in Saturday’s Group One Epsom Handicap (1600m) at Randwick.
“I rode a few horses for Greg each morning at Cranbourne and we developed a bond,” Bell said.
“He’s an absolute gentleman and a great horseman so let’s hope it pays off on Saturday.”
Bell rates Your Honour an ideal type for the Epsom.
“He’s got a light weight, a good barrier and he’s still on an upward spiral,” he said.
Your Honour won his first four starts on provincial tracks in Victoria last year and emerged as an Epsom contender when he finished third to Riva De Lago in the Sebring Stakes (1400m) at Rosehill on September 14.
The gelding rounded off his Epsom preparation by finishing a creditable sixth to Rain Drum in last Saturday’s Shannon Stakes after over-racing three wide without cover for most of the race when ridden by Brenton Avdulla.
Bell’s other Group One booking at Randwick is for Saint Encosta in The Metropolitan (2400m).
