It was a weekend to savour for ADR, adding three wins to the season tally with Loveofmylife and Bellman both winning cups, while Noci Di Cocco also saluted.
At Lockhart on Friday, Noci Di Cocco kicked things off with victory in the Open Sprint before Loveofmylife stormed home to claim the Verandah Town Cup – delivering a winning double for the stable and jockey Leandro Ribeiro.
Lockhart, known as The Verandah Town, drew a huge crowd of around 1000 racegoers to the town’s feature race day with trainer Andrew Dale on deck to soak in all of the action.
“Country racing is terrific, there was a huge crowd on course at Lockhart,” Dale said.
“As a stable we love to support these country meetings, we’ve been to Jerilderie, Grenfell and now Lockhart all in the space of just three weeks.
“To come home with a couple of winners puts the cherry on top.”
Loveofmylife was the equal $3.50 favourite and justified that with a swooping run to win by nearly half a length.
The daughter of Ace High has now won three races from five attempts under the tutelage of Dale after crossing from New Zealand.
“She’s been a handy pick up for the stable and seems to be building some confidence,” Dale said.
“We’ve managed to place her pretty well since coming to the stable and she seems to be improving every run.
“Hopefully she can add a few more country cups to her resume.”
On Saturday, the team headed to Wagga Riverside with a team of nine runners.
Bellman was the star of the show taking out the Wagga Picnic Cup, while Hells Son, Crusheen Lass, Turnaquid and Quick Spell all finished in the money.
Bellman was all class, powering away to give the stable its 14th winner of the season and putting Andrew Dale just one win shy of his 300th career victory.
A beautiful ride from talented hoop John Kissick saw the seven-year-old gelding cruise to a devastating four length victory.
Dale was pleased to see Bellman return to the winner’s circle.
“It’s been a while between drinks for him but he’s been in some solid form and he had his best stuff on Saturday,” Dale said.
“He was outstanding and hopefully that win sparks some form for him.
“John Kissick gave him a terrific ride, we love having John on our horses – he’s a quality jockey.”
ADR’s 2025/26 tally now sits at 10 with some serious momentum building.
Words: Wilson Mack
Image: Trackpix Photgraphy
