Fortuna Racing’s Group One performer Bellatrix Star has been sold for A$900,000.
The recently retired mare had a glittering but injury plagued career, winning five and placing in four of her 13 starts, and earned more than A$1 million in prizemoney.
Bellatrix Star was initially purchased by Te Akau Racing principal Sir David Ellis, on behalf of Fortuna Racing, out of Phoenix Park’s 2023 New Zealand Bloodstock Book 1 Yearling Sale draft for $80,000. She joined the Matamata barn of trainers Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson before heading across the Tasman to Te Akau’s Cranbourne barn.
Her victories included the Gr.2 Eclipse Stakes (1200m), Gr.2 Schillaci Stakes (1100m), Gr.3 Scarborough Stakes (1200m) and Listed Cap D'Antibes Stakes (1100m), while she was second to Coolmore-based stallion Switzerland in the Gr.1 Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m) at Flemington on Derby Day.
She unfortunately had a couple of serious injuries over the last couple of years, and a second heart fibrillation brought an end to her racing career last month.
She was offered on Inglis Digital’s September (Early) Sale, which she topped with her A$900,000 sale to Widden Stud and Julia Ritchie’s Bangaloe Stud, and she will be served by Widden’s stallion Zoustar this spring.
Fortuna Racing’s John Galvin was pleased with the result.
“It’s a fantastic result for us,’’ Galvin said.
“We had a reserve of A$500,000 on her and personally I hoped she would sell somewhere between A$600,000 and A$1 million, so to get to the top end of that spread is absolutely amazing. To make A$900,000 is simply incredible.”
Widden’s Antony Thompson was delighted to acquire the talented mare.
“She’s a lovely, fast filly with a very impressive record,” he said. “Her race career was sadly cut a bit short but to beat the older horses in the Schillaci like she did, she’s a stakes winner at Flemington and to then run second in a Coolmore, it’s a perfect profile of a beautiful filly for us and Julia Ritchie to send to Zoustar, whom she is a shareholder in.
“She earned over A$1 million in prizemoney, she won multiple stakes races at two and three, so we knew we were going to have to dig deep to buy her, but I thought she was absolutely worth that price.
“Mark Walker and Sir David Ellis and the entire Te Akau team identify such lovely physicals at the sales, and they’ve had so much success, so it’s nice to secure one of their yearling selections as a broodmare to join the Widden team.”
Galvin’s attention remains in Australia, with his recently crowned Champion New Zealand Two-Year-Old of last season, Lara Antipova, having her second start in Australia in the Listed Michael Moroney (1400m) at Flemington on Saturday, for which she is a $6.50 equal third favourite.