One of the outsiders of the field Jessy Belle finished strongly to win the Group 2 $300,000 7News Matriarch Stakes (2000m) at Flemington today.

Jessy Belle was the second leg of a winning double for the Lindsay Park Racing Team and Craig Williams following the win of Boom Time in the previous race, the $100,000 Antlet Luggage Handicap (1600m).

Williams was lucky to pick up the winning ride on Jessy Belle after English jockey William Buick had to relinquish the ride when he couldn’t make the mare’s 55kg weight.

Jessy Belle had a little bit of support in the betting ring and firmed in from $41 to get the money at the juicy odds of $26 after Craig Williams brought her with a well-timed run from back in the field to grab the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott trained Sort After ($6) in the shadows of the post to win by half a length.

The Peter and Paul Snowden trained Happy Hannah ($7.50) settled near the tail of the field from the outside barrier in the fifteen horse field and also found the line strong for Kerrin McEvoy.

Hugh Bowman gave the favourite Lady Le Fay ($4) a beautiful run just behind the leaders but she failed to run on in the straight when the runs presented themselves and missed a place to finish sixth.

Co-trainer Tom Dabernig said that Jessy Belle had pulled up well after running fourth to Sort After in the $100,000 Mares Trophy (1700m) at Flemington on Tuesday and the stable had decided to back her up today in the Matriarch Stakes.

“She had been racing well and it was her first time ever at the distance and after she ran during the week, I spoke to the owner Jeff after Cup Day and he mentioned can we make sure that we back her up on the Saturday,” Dabernig said.

“She pulled up really well and today we were very mindful to ride her very cold to try and get her the trip and I think she really appreciated it.”

Dabernig said that a couple of gear changes in along the way have played a big part in her win today.

“We started her in blinkers and then we went to winkers and today we ended up with no gear on,” Dabernig said.

“It was big win for her for her future as a brood mare.”

Matriarch Stakes Results

Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Starting Price
1	7	JESSY BELLE	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	Craig Williams	–	6	55kg	$26
2	15	SORT AFTER	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Stephen Baster	0.5L	13	55kg	$6
3	16	HAPPY HANNAH	Peter & Paul Snowden	Kerrin McEvoy	0.6L	15	55kg	$7.50
4	8	DENMAGIC	David Pfieffer	James McDonald	1.6L	5	55kg	$5
5	12	ALASKAN ROSE (NZ)	Michael Moroney	Patrick Moloney	2.35L	3	55kg	$21
6	10	LADY LE FAY (NZ)	Chris Waller	Hugh Bowman	2.75L	2	55kg (cd 55.5kg)	$4F
7	3	KANIANA	Darren Weir	Damian Lane	2.85L	11	57.5kg	$26
8	6	RISING ROMANCE (NZ)	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	Chad Schofield	3.6L	4	55kg	$21
9	17	POWDERWORKS	Darren Weir	Luke Nolen	4.1L	1	55kg	$71
10	13	CINNAMON CARTER	Robbie Laing	Damien Oliver	5.85L	10	55kg	$81
11	18	REPLIQUE (NZ)	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Ms Katelyn Mallyon	6.35L	9	55kg	$101
12	9	MANAGERESS	Cindy Alderson	Brad Parnham	6.75L	12	55kg	$15
13	4	ROCKET COMMANDER	Matthew Dale	Blake Shinn	7.75L	14	56kg	$21
14	2	ZANBAGH	John P Thompson	Mark Zahra	8.75L	8	57.5kg	$13
15	14	AMARELA (NZ)	Nigel Blackiston	Dwayne Dunn	9.75L	7	55kg	$61