MATT Craven has trained and driven promising pacer Bellas Jet to an easy win in the Judith McLeod Memorial at Laidlaw Park.
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Craven sat three wide for the beginning of race before he hit the front and won by a big margin.
The plan for Craven was to push the mare to the front because he thought she was good enough to set the pace.
"She ran terrific," Craven said.
"On paper it wasn't a very strong field so we expected her to win. We went to the front because we didn't think there was any other horses that could keep up with her and it turned out pretty good for us."
With a mile rate of 2.02.7 Bella's Jet won by eight metres from Showem Shifty and Sheza Party Doll.
Bella's Jet had been in good form leading into the race and is a consistent horse for the Craven stables.
"She is a pretty handy horse most of the time," Craven said.
"She is earning money for us and she gets stronger with every race."
The win for Craven was a touching one as over the years he has developed strong friendships with a lot of the Stawell harness racing community.
"I have known Les (McLeod) for a long time now," Craven said.
"We used to see Judith around a fair bit. It is always nice to win these races that are remembering people who were involved in our sport."
Bellas Jet has now had four wins including her win at Stawell and with a fifth at Melton on Friday night, she is thriving on racing.
Craven opted to back his mare up quickly as she has produced good results on the back up in the past.
"Before the win at Stawell her last win came the day after she finished second," Craven said.
"She just loves racing at the minute so we will keep her in and keep her ticking over."