NARRANDERA trainer Shaun Snudden intends to give the career of young Victorian reinsman Corey Bell a chance to blossom in the Riverina.
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With Bell fresh from driving Coonah Parade to a front-running victory in the South West Fuel Centre Pace (1609m) at Temora on Saturday, Snudden said the 22-year-old reinsman will get more opportunities to show his skill.
"He'll be doing the major share of the stable driving," Snudden saud yesterday.
After only six weeks in the region, Bell has landed two winners since moving base from Bendigo.
Trained by Snudden, Coonah Parade ($6.80) showed slick gate speed to lead throughout to beat Icy River ($3.20 favourite) by 1.8 metres to continue the run of the success of the Narrandera horseman.
Driven by Scott Woodhouse, Icy River trailed Coonah Parade all the way before bursting clear in the straight to make a late challenge, while Alittle Bit Frosty ($10.70) was a distant third.
For Snudden, Coonah Parade's success further emphasised Bell's emerging talent.
"He's still learning, but horses seem to go good for him," Snudden said.
"So (I'm) just giving him a chance to see how he goes."
Significantly, the Snudden-Bell combination almost pulled off a great winning double in the opening two races at Temora on Saturday.
Barely 30 minutes following Coonah Parade's victory to start the TAB meeting, Bell drove The Brazen Jasper ($6.70) for Snudden into second place in the Perry's Bus Services Pace (1609m), the second event on the six-race card.
The Brazen Jasper trailed the pace-setter, Bank Of Nova ($9.90), all the way but could just not run down the winner in the home straight.
While Bank Of Nova registered a 2:00.3 for the mile, Coonah Parade went marginally quicker, stopping the clock at 1:59.6.
Temora trainer Ray Walker, meantime, had two runners in the R L A Grimmer & Co Temora Pace (1609m) at his home track on Saturday night - and got the perfect result.
Walker's two runners, Funny Thoughts ($4.60) and Karlas Lucky Son ($4.50), finished first and second respectively.
The only slight hiccup for Walker, however, was driving Karlas Lucky Son into second position, while Shane Hallcroft had the winner drive on Funny Thoughts.