MAD ANA continued her love affair with Ballina when she made it two wins from two starts at her favourite venue on Friday.

The consistent mare dropped slightly in both distance and grade having placed at her previous start at Murwillumbah, and she proved too strong for her rivals in notching her third career win in the Benchmark 58 Handicap (1920m).

MAD ANA was given a peach of a steer by apprentice jockey Grady Spokes, who navigated a path from the fence and peeled the daughter of Dundeel to the outside of the track shortly after turning into the home straight.  

Once she had hit top gear, it was all over bar the shouting as MAD ANA carried her career earnings to $82,560 – almost three times her purchase price at the 2023 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale.

“It was another really nice win,” said Michael. 

“Things panned out perfectly for her. She never runs a bad race, but she does need a certain set of circumstances for her to win. It was a good performance by both horse and rider, and with the BOBS bonus it’s as good as winning a midweek race. 

“She pulled up well and looked an absolute treat after the race. There’s a suitable Benchmark 64 race at Canterbury in three weeks’ time, which I had in the back of my mind if she won today. It’s worth $40,000 to the winner including BOBS bonuses, so it could be a nice option for her.”

Congrats to all her owners: Mr C Mirgis, Mr B L Hannon, Mr M Sommer, Mr P W Traill, Beddalife 2, Mr P A Curran, Snr K M Kelly, Mrs H M Kendler, Mr G T Stephenson, Mr K G Caldow, Mr B J Leonard, Mr S Antczak, Mrs C White, Mr G S Curtiss and Mr J Lolesi.