Experience counts as Bella Isabella wins finale for Weld Previous racing experience proved key in the nightcap as the twice-raced Dermot Weld trained Bella Isabella kept on well under Chris Hayes to win the concluding Annual Membership Available Today Fillies Maiden at Cork. Well beaten on her racecourse debut at Leopardstown last October, the Wootton Bassett filly shaped much better on her three-year-old reappearance when runner-up to a group class performer at Dundalk in February. Putting those experiences to good use here, the Chris Hayes ridden 13/2 chance saw off the well backed debutant Sapphire Princess. The latter, trained by Ger Lyons, who was sent off 8-11f looked to have matters in hand when edging to the lead over a furlong out but was ultimately outbattled inside the last 100 yards by the Weld filly. Kris Weld reported: "It was a nice performance, she was very pleasing and Chris was very happy with her. She showed a very willing attitude and I thought she won nicely at the line. "She is from a great family which we know like the back of our hands and it goes back a long way now. We'll see where she fits in as the season progresses and look for a winners' race next." Additional reporting by Thomas Weekes.
