Having booked her spot in the $150,000 final last month when taking out the second heat of the series, Claire Lever believes her mare Diva Bella is still in with a good shot of featuring in Saturday’s 1300m Midway Handicap.
With rain forecasted for Saturday, the five-year-old is likely to strike a track to her fancy and will get in light at the weights (54kgs) with apprentice Tyler Schiller claiming 3kgs.
Short of her preferred trip, Lever is hopeful the front runners will set a solid tempo from the get-go and Schiller is able to position his mount no worse than midfield from the tricky alley, saving Diva Bella for a strong dash to the line.
“She’s going super at the moment,” Lever said.
“Tomorrow’s run is a bit of tick over for the Summer Provincial Final, but I still think in saying that she will run a really good race tomorrow.
“She’s pretty versatile, but she gets through the wet pretty good.
“She struck a heavy track at Kembla Grange and she swam through it. She definitely appreciates the sting out of the track.
Although yet to breakthrough for her maiden Metropolitan win, Lever has had a bright start to her training career and is currently striking at 25% in the 2021/22 season.
“We’ve only got four horses up and racing in the stable at the moment and the rest of them are all un-raced,” Lever said.
“We’re going as well as you could expect with the calibre of horses we have.
“I don’t really have anything at the moment for next year’s Provincial Championships, but we’ve got a beautiful bunch of two-year-olds that we are really looking forward to getting to the trials and the racetrack after Christmas.”
In what is sure to be a competitive contest, Diva Bella is a $10 chance with tab.com.au for Saturday’s Midway.
The Summer Provincial Series Final will be run at Newcastle on December 18 over 1600m.
