Ambitious goals lie ahead for Bell

Friday 26 July 2013, 3:11pm

Winning next season's Brisbane premiership is high on the agenda for in-form jockey Tim Bell.

From his past 24 rides on city tracks, Bell has won six races helping him to edge past Jim Byrne and Glen Colless to claim seventh spot on the premiership with 35-1/2 wins for the season.

"In the past two months my form has really reached a peak and there hasn't been a meeting go by where I haven't ridden a double or at least one winner," he said.

"I really want to have a crack at winning the premiership next season. I ran second to Chris (Munce) last season and it's definitely one of my goals in the next 12 months."

The 20-year-old spent several months in Victoria last year which he says was invaluable experience although it cost him momentum in this season's premiership race.

"I made a lot of contacts during that time which helped me over the winter carnival," he said.

"Being based in Melbourne during the spring last year made me a better rider because it made me become a lot more patient and improved my ability to read a race."

At Doomben on Saturday, Bell has rides in seven of the eight races including Aldini, the $3.30 equal favourite in the Jim Beam Handicap (1200m).

Bell was aboard the gelding when he scored a fast-finishing win at Grafton on July 11 carrying 58kg.

"I opted to ride him a bit quieter at Grafton than he has been previously and he hit the line extremely well," Bell said.

"He copped a bump at the top of the straight but I was really impressed with the way he was able to overcome that carrying a big weight."

Aldini's trainer David Kelly has also booked Bell to ride Garozzo who has drawn awkwardly in barrier 10 in the Powerade Handicap (1615m).

Trainer Liam Birchley is tossing up whether to run Pepperwood at Doomben or wait until Thursday's Coffs Harbour Cup (1600m), a race he won last year when he was ridden by Danny Nikolic.

– AAP

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