Stable Musings With Michael Bell

By Chris McGrath

He’s no Big Red, obviously – but there are plenty of other colors in the rainbow to point the way to that crock of gold. And certainly Big Orange (GB) (Duke of Marmalade {Ire}) is opening up new horizons for his trainer, who is already planning to book-end the 2016 season with trips to Dubai and Australia. However adventurous the path, equally, Michael Bell is able to navigate by the most seasoned of instincts. It was the fitting of cheekpieces, for instance, that triggered Big Orange’s emergence this summer, culminating in a game success in the G2 Goodwood Cup. And, following a flat run at York, Bell resorted to another nerveless ruse to spark the gelding’s attention prior to a crack at the Melbourne Cup earlier this month. Perhaps stories that he had been schooled over hurdles back in England contributed to odds of 60-1 on the day, but Big Orange made a bold bid from the front and was ultimately beaten only two and a half lengths into fifth.

By the time the full-time hurdlers are convening at Cheltenham in March, Bell hopes to have Big Orange primed for a more exotic assignment. “The plan now is to run him in the G2 Dubai Gold Cup, over two miles, at the World Cup meeting,” he said. “All being well, the main idea after that would be to get him ready for another trip to Melbourne. The owners enjoyed it, the horse enjoyed it, and it was a thrilling race to be involved in.” Big Orange has contributed to a sense of new beginnings for Bell, albeit not quite so vividly as the baby daughter whose arrival a year ago set a happy seal on Bell’s remarriage. Sure enough, a bright future also beckons a couple of youngsters offered by their trainer to keep TDN readers ahead of the game in 2016.

Duck A L’Orange (Ire) (Duke of Marmalade {Ire}) certainly fits the profile of a slow burner, who could yet begin to follow in the citrus hoofprints of his stablemate. “He’s well bred, out of Incheni (Ire) (Nashwan), from a Hascombe family – the Golden Horn breeders – and I thought him a decent horse in the making,” Bell said. “But he’s rather disappointed me and goes into the winter on the back of three runs, and three defeats, with a rating of only 70. I still think he’s a horse with a nice future. We’ve seen how these Duke Of Marmalades tend to get better with age, and with that pedigree I’d certainly hope he can be rated significantly higher this time next year.” A 2-year-old that has shown rather more, while only just getting going, is Purple Magic (GB) (Rip Van Winkle {Ire}). Home-bred by Lady Bamford, for whom Bell won the 2009 G1 Oaks with Sariska, this filly won a mile maiden over the Polytrack at Chelmsford earlier in the month after a promising third on her Nottingham debut. “She has a nice staying pedigree, out of a Darshaan mare, and is bred to get a mile and a half,” Bell explained. “She’s been a little backward, she’s rather long and rangy, and she’s only going to improve. The all-weather wouldn’t have been ideal for her, at that distance, but it was an opportunity to win a race. Essentially she’s crying out for more of a test on turf next year, and I hope she could make up into quite a nice middle-distance filly – not necessarily top drawer, but certainly above-average.”

Big Orange having relieved a relatively tepid spell for Fitzroy House, roughly tracing back to the pomp of the ill-fated Wigmore Hall (Ire) (High Chaparral {Ire}), Bell’s renewed optimism has been fortified at the yearling sales. “We bought probably eight or nine more than last year,” he said. “That will give us 40-plus yearlings to go to war with, which feels like a good number. And I actually felt it was possible to buy this year; the most expensive I got ‘on spec’ would have been in the range of 30- 40,000gns, and I felt you were getting a nice horse for that. But obviously time will tell.” Each trainer contributing to this short series has been invited to finish off with the 2-year-old he has most envied in another yard, other than Air Force Blue (War Front). “It’s not much more original, but Shalaa (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) looks a beast for John Gosden,” Bell said. “He has hardly come off the bridle. He’s probably going to be a sprinter, but if so he looks tailor-made for the G1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot.”