MOTELL - THE VETERAN BOUNCES BACK

By Graham Potter | Saturday, January 6, 2024

He might have arrived at the track at Ipswich on January 6 for a BM58 Handicap over 1666 assignment as a forty-start veteran, but the seven-year-old Motell showed he still had plenty to give when took the race honours by a clearcut 4.30 length margin to claim the sixth win of his career.

The son of Uncle Mo was only having his fifth start for the Michael Nolan stable since transferring to the Toowoomba based stable in late 2023.

In two of his previous four starts Motell had finished less than two lengths behind the winner. While the jury might still have been out on a verdict on his overall form (Motell had not won for fifteen months since October 2022) those setting the betting board prices clearly expected an improvement from Motell, who was marked up as the race favourite ... with his only market rival being the Rex Lipp trained Topa at $2.50.

These two runners were the only horses quoted under $10.

Jai Willaims, who became the fourth different jockey to partner Motell in his five starts for Nolan, make certain Motell made good use of his number one barrier draw by pushing his mount out at the break, and he had to keep working a bit going into the first turn to keep out the speed on his outside.

Williams then took a hard hold on Motell but still maintained a lead of a length as the Nolan trained runner took the field down the back stretch.

Motell was allowed to continue to dictate the way the race unfolded ... and the leeway he was given by all of his opponents would come back to bite them when Williams released the break on Motell turning for home and gave his mount the signal to get to work.

Motell needed no second asking. He was already three lengths clear soon after straightening and was always out of reach of any danger as he raced right away to score as he liked.

It was a win in which Motell was in command from start to finish.

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