Emma Pritchard

He may have been a 30/1 outsider in the field of 10, but talented sprinter Bel Academy won the 2023 Sir James Kirby Handicap on July 13 like an odds-on favourite.

Trained in Coffs Harbour by Brad Munro, the six-year-old gelding was resuming from a 12-month spell after numerous hoof problems forced connections to put a temporary hold on his racing career.

Sent straight to the front by his regular rider Raymond Spokes, Bel Academy kept up a relentless gallop, surging clear to win the 1000m sprint by 1.69 lengths from Unwritten and Greyworm.

“Once he straightened up, I still had a lapful of horse underneath me,” Spokes said following the race.

“It’s been a big effort from the team to bring him back from injury.

“The horse deserved it, and it’s great to win the Kirby.”

Named in honour of Sir James Kirby, who donated the prizemoney won by his champion stayer Home James in the 1963 Grafton Cup back to the Clarence River Jockey Club (CRJC) upon learning of their financial difficulties, the race has been a feature of the annual July Racing Carnival for close to 60 years.