IT’S good when a plan comes together.

Toowoomba apprentice Kelsey Lenton’s plan to win the 1400m Tatts Hotel Great Northern Inverell Cup on New Year’s Day paid blue-chip dividends when under-rated mare Ella Te Ama swept down the middle of the track to win the $45,000 feature with something in hand.

Ella Te Ama was second-up after campaigning in outback Queensland, where she finished third in the historic Birdsville Cup and fifth in the Bedourie Cup for Toowoomba trainer Matt Kropp.

Lenton, 22, said Ella Te Ama travelled beautifully in the run, and extended when asked.

“I had a plan and it all went exactly how I wanted it to go,” Lenton said.

“I got one off the fence and she travelled really nicely into the race on the back of one of the favourites (Skywolf). She was in a really nice spot.

“Coming around the corner, nothing in front of me was travelling too well so I peeled to the outside and she let down really super,” Lenton said.

Ella Te Ama, a Spanish phrase meaning ‘she loves you’, resumed with an unplaced run at Ipswich before heading over the border for Inverell Cup glory.

“Her last start at Ipswich was enormous and she wasn’t beaten far. Second-up today, she was definitely fitter and ready to go,” Lenton said.

Kate Kropp leads Ella Te Ama and apprentice Kelsey Lenton back to scale after winning the 1400m Tatts Hotel Great Northern Inverell Cup on New Year’s Day.

Kropp, with about 30 horses in work at Toowoomba, is no stranger to the Inverell track.

He won the Inverell Cup five years ago when dual Texas Cup winner Scrabble beat Free Billy and Desert Marshal in race record time.

Kropp said Ella Te Ama was better-suited on turf after mixed form last year on the western Queensland cup circuit.

“She didn’t handle the trip out west that well, even though she tried hard,” Kropp said.

“She did finish third in the Birdsville Cup, flying home, but those conditions are a bit tough for her.

“She’s a talented little mare and we’ll probably keep her on the grass.

“The track was a treat here today. Even though it was firm, there was beautiful grass cover,” he said.

Lenton, who claims one-and-a-half kilos on country tracks, surged Ella Te Ama ($20) down the middle of the long Inverell straight to claim Todd Payne’s race leader Sensational Reward ($9.50) and win by more than half-a-length.

Race favourite Mystery Lad ($5.50) was third, a length away.

“It was a nice, solid win and a cracking ride. When Kelsey balanced her up, she went ‘bang’,” Kropp said.

Words and Image: Bill Poulos