Belclare Seeking to Find Best Form Back in Australia

Media Release - Tuesday April 15

Dual Group One winner Belclare’s return home for a three-race campaign didn’t go to plan earlier this year, and now she is back on the other side of the Tasman to try and get her preparation back on track.

Belclare winning the A$2 million Gr.2 The Invitation last year.   Photo: Steve Hart

She was reunited with former trainer Lisa Latta to attempt to defend her crowns in the Gr.2 Westbury Classic (1400m) and Gr.1 New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1600m) at Ellerslie, with a tilt at the Gr.1 Otaki-Maori WFA Classic (1600m) also in the mix, but the fairytale ending was not to be.

She was unplaced in all three runs and owner-breeder David Woodhouse elected to send her back to Bjorn Baker in Sydney for whom she had so much success last spring.

“She was always going back to Australia, I only brought her back for those three races,” Woodhouse said. “I thought it (Ellerslie) would be a perfect track, perfect races for her, a perfect distance, and nothing worked out. We should have stayed in Australia but it’s easy to say in hindsight.”

After failing to meet her $700,000 reserve at last year’s Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale on the Gold Coast, Belclare was entrusted to the care of Baker, and after taking a couple of starts to find her feet in Sydney, she collected a couple of major cheques for Woodhouse when taking out the A$2 million The Invitation (1400m) at Randwick before doubling up in the Gr.2 Hot Danish (1400m) at Rosehill.

Woodhouse would love to see her return to that winning form when she heads to Randwick on Saturday to contest the Gr.1 All Aged Stakes (1400m), but said she faces a stiff task against a quality line-up.

“It is a hot field,” he said. “Bjorn rang me this morning and said she is doing everything right and he is going to put Rachel King on her, who rides her trackwork. He is happy with her.

“This will be the best field she has ever raced against I’d say.”

Belclare’s plans post-Saturday are still up in the air, but she will likely return to the Gold Coast next month to be offered at the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale.

“She is entered for the Magic Millions, but I haven’t made a final decision yet,” Woodhouse said.

Advertisement

Meanwhile, back in New Zealand, Woodhouse is looking forward to watching his talented three-year-old filly Connello try and breakthrough for a maiden stakes success at Riccarton next week in the Listed New Zealand Bloodstock Warstep Stakes (2000m).

The Time Test filly finished runner-up behind Dream Of The Moon in last Saturday’s Listed NZB Airfreight Stakes (1600m) at the Christchurch track, her third stakes placing this preparation, and Woodhouse is keen to secure that elusive stakes scalp.

She returned to his Wairarapa property following her eighth placed run in the Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m) at Trentham last month and he said she had thrived with the freshen-up.

“She came home to my place for 10 days after the Oaks and she freshened up nicely,” Woodhouse said.

“She just does so well in her training and she ate every oat in her feed bowl when she was home, and when she went south she ate her dinner and breakfast and Andrew (Carston, caretaker trainer) thought she had done so well overnight that he had to give her a bit of work on Friday morning (before the race) where normally they count the trip as a gallop. She is a very good doer.”

Woodhouse was pleased with Saturday’s performance, and while he thinks the 2000m of the Warstep may be a bit too far for his filly, he is willing to roll the dice.

“Drawing so wide (16) we had to go back a bit and try to get a bit of cover and it was a good run. We are going to stay down for the Warstep and hopefully we can get a better draw,” he said.

“We think she is a 1600m horse, but we will have one more crack at the 2000m and then she will come home for a decent spell, she has had a fairly long season.

“The Te Akau horse (Dream Of The Moon) will take a bit of beating again, but that is racing, and we are there to beat her.” – LOVERACING.NZ News Desk

Advertisment
More Reading...
Belclare Chasing Another Kiwi G1
Following a lucrative spring campaign in Sydney, multiple Group One winner Belclare has returned to New Zealand in a bid to secure her third successive Gr.1 NZ Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1600m) crown at Ellerslie on Champions Day in March.
Breeders Paradise - Inglis Digital August (early) Online
An abundance of high-quality broodmares – many in foal to some of the hottest young stallions in the Southern Hemisphere – and broodmare prospects headline a “breeders’ paradise’’ in the Inglis Digital August (Early) Online Sale.
Melbourne Cup on Radar for Sons and Lovers
Joseph O’Brien knows what it takes to win a Melbourne Cup and that was mentioned as a possible goal for progressive young stayer Sons and Lovers, who won the Group III Ballyroan Stakes (1m4f) at Leopardstown overnight.
Above the Clouds Wins $100,000 Polytrack Championship
It proved to be a long but fruitful day for Kelly Myers on Friday, with the now Central Districts-based hoop riding home Above The Clouds to win the $100,000 TAB Polytrack Championship (2000m) at Cambridge for local trainer Ralph Manning.
One to Watch – Geelong
Team Hawkes were the guiding force behind the racing career of Group I ATC Doncaster Mile winner Brutal and have also prepared his first Group I winner as a sire in Nepotism and they unleashed a debut winner by him at Geelong on Friday.
First Godolphin Winner for Maher
Champion trainer Ciaron Maher saddled his first winner for Godolphin at Kembla on Thursday and he did it with a blue-blood colt by Too Darn Hot (GB).
Breeding To Win – Crystal Ball – New Season 3YOs to Follow
Who are we highlighting this week? - Analysis of the G1 winning 3YO’s for last season has made us realise how many horses on this list took giant strides from two to three, so we are looking into the crystal ball to find some juveniles we believe could end this season as G1 performers if not G1 winners.
Wootton Bassett Set to Blast Out of Winter
Many people may have anticipated Wootton Bassett (GB) would have been our Champion Australian First Season Sire last season and while that didn’t quite eventuate, he did finish the season with a wealth of horses holding spring potential and several were in action at the trials this morning.
Can Belclare Go Back to Back in G2 Westbury Stud Classic?
Dual Group One-winning mare Belclare made her first public appearance back on home soil at the Foxton trials on Tuesday, as she readies for a title defence in the Gr.2 Westbury Classic (1400m) on Karaka Millions Night next week.
Blessing in Disguise - Belclare Makes Breeder Happy
Belclare’s failure to reach her A$700,000 reserve at the Magic Millions Gold Coast National Broodmare sale earlier this year has proven to be a blessing in disguise for owner-breeder David Woodhouse.