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.
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.
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
