BACK A BEL!

According to Google Maps, Wantabadgery is smack dab in the middle between Wagga Wagga and Gundagai.

Google wouldn’t reveal just how many people reside in Wantabadgery, but courtesy of a government website, we can reveal where the public toilet is located in Jewnee Street.

Yet, although Google failed us on this occasion, we’re relatively well informed that there are few traffic jams in Wantabadgery.

However, there was no doubt a celebratory drink downed by a few of its residents last night following the win of Backabel in the Class 1 Handicap at Wagga yesterday (1 June).

Backabel, a well bred 3YO by Bel Esprit, is trained and part owned by Rodger Waters on behalf of his family who also bred the nifty youngster.

Showing typical Bel Esprit pluck over the final stages, Backabel got up by a whisker: scoring at the rather juicy odds of $21.

Only lightly raced, Backabel has campaigned exclusively at Wagga (apart from a trip to Wodonga as a 2YO) and his previous victory was over the same journey as yesterday on the day before Christmas ’08.

Backabel is out of the unraced Last Tycoon mare, Thank You Ma’am, who has certainly done her job at stud, producing six winners from seven to race including city winners Announcer and From The Boulevard, while Rodger also trains the half sister - Monmartre Madam - who won at Seymour last November, along with an unraced 2YO half sister, Not So Coy.

Hailing from the stakeswinnning sprinter/miler, New Acquaintance, Thank You Ma’am is a sister to the brilliant 2YO, Knowledge, who won the 1997 Blue Diamond-G1, while the half sister Maslins Beach won a Group race at Moonee Valley a Listed event on the Sunshine Coast and two city races in Sydney.

This is also the family of another Blue Diamond winner in Midnight Fever.

Congratulations to all the Waters crew - we’ll continue to back a Bel as well.