She’s Bulletproof does Littlefield proud in the Bellmaine Stakes

Trainer Charlotte Littlefield is not typically known for pushing her horses hard, but she had to adopt a tougher approach with She’s Bulletproof in the lead-up to a Stakes race at Sandown. The change in training and feeding regimen paid off handsomely when She’s Bulletproof claimed victory in the Group 3 Geoffrey Bellmaine Stakes (1200m) on Saturday, marking Littlefield’s first Stakes race win.

Sent out as the $4 favourite under jockey Mark Zahra, She’s Bulletproof dominated the field, winning by 2-¾ lengths from Fancify ($7), with Wrote To Arataki ($19) a further three-quarters-of-a-length behind in third.

Littlefield decided to implement a stricter training program after She’s Bulletproof finished second in the Listed Black Pearl Stakes (1200m) at Geelong on January 4. “We felt she got away from us before the Geelong race,” Littlefield said. “She ran a gallant second, but she just struggled to pick that other horse up, which is unlike her, and it was hard to get that weight off. She’s a really good doer, and we had to strip her feed right back. She was on six kilos of grain a day; now she’s on four kilos a day. It’s not a lot for a horse that demands more food. She got a bit more roughage in her diet, a bit more swimming, and we worked her harder. I’m not known as a trainer who works her horses hard, but she’s been worked pretty hard, and we had to. Every horse is different.”

Littlefield plans to celebrate the victory and let the achievement sink in before mapping out She’s Bulletproof’s next steps. The mare was feeling the effects of the warm afternoon at Sandown after her win, but Littlefield has no immediate plans to give her a break. “She’s going that well, and you never tip a mare out that is in form,” Littlefield said. “We space her runs, and why would you tip a horse out in this weather at the moment, in a paddock with no grass and the flies are terrible? We’ll keep her ticking along, pick out another race in another four weeks or so, and off that today, you would think she will go pretty well.”