By MIKE DILLON
Take no notice of Hello Dolly's Melbourne form when summing up her chances in tomorrow's $50,000 Great Northern Challenge Stakes, says Bill Wills.
The Cambridge owner/trainer feels Hello Dolly is back to her best after an abortive one-race campaign in Melbourne where the mare refused to eat.
"The only
thing I can put it down to is that 48 hours before she flew over she had the injections in case she got the call-up to go to the international races in Hong Kong.
"I figure she probably had a reaction to the injections. The vets in Australia seemed to think that's what went wrong as well."
Hello Dolly had been in good spring form before leaving for Australia, but finished 13th of 15 runners at Flemington on Derby Day.
"She had a week in the paddock when she came home and she's fine again now.
"She doesn't do a lot of galloping - never has - but she finished her work off on Tuesday very nicely."
Wills rates 3-year-old Jack The Stripper the horse to beat.
"He has that light weight (51kg) and he's obviously a smart young horse."
The field is very even. Doyle, Millennium, Elevenses and Preferred Lies are all strong chances to get close to the major money with the right run.
Elevenses does not enjoy being jammed up on the rails and to avoid that she had to cover extra ground when fourth to Tit For Taat at Tauranga last start.
She is much better on the big, roomier tracks, evidenced by the fact that she dead-heated with Tit For Taat at her previous start at Trentham.
Her biggest win, in the 1000 Guineas, was on the biggest track of all - Riccarton.
Ellerslie suits her and the smallish field will assist her strong finishing capabilities.
Doyle's racing has been mostly left-handed since he was trained in the north as a young horse.
His last-start nose defeat under 57kg at Riccarton was smart. He was well off the speed most of the way and flashed home when the race was almost over. That puts him in with a strong chance.
