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.
The daughter of Per Incanto was offered at Magic Millions’ Gold Coast National Broodmare sale last year following her second victory in the NZ Breeders’ Stakes, but failed to reach her $700,000 reserve.
Owner-breeder David Woodhouse then elected to entrust his mare to the care of expat Kiwi trainer Bjorn Baker in Sydney for a spring campaign, which proved to be a masterstroke.
Belclare was unplaced in her first two starts for Baker, the Gr.2 Sheraco Stakes (1200m) and A$1.5 million Alan Brown Stakes (1400m), before earning her biggest pay cheque when taking out the A$2 million Gr.2 The Invitation (1400m) at Randwick in October and repeated the result in the Gr.2 Hot Danish Stakes (1400m) at Rosehill a fortnight later.
She then travelled to Perth where she finished last in the Gr.1 Railway Stakes (1600m), but Woodhouse said nothing went right that day.
“In Perth, I think she got upset in the gates and then she never settled in the race at all,” he said. “She pulled her way to the front and blew out. That was a non-event really.”
Following a spell, Woodhouse made the decision to bring his mare back to New Zealand and return her to the care of trainer Lisa Latta,with the aim of trying to defend her crowns in the $600,000 Gr.2 Westbury Classic (1400m) at Ellerslie on January 28 and $600,000 NZ Breeders’ Stakes (1600m) on March 8, with the $500,000 Gr.1 Otaki-Maori WFA Classic (1600m) at the Auckland venue on February 22 also being identified as a key target.
“There was a heavy track at Rosehill a few weeks back and I just decided that with those three races at Ellerslie, guaranteeing a track that she would handle, I thought it was quite logical to bring her back,” Woodhouse said.
“I would love to win the Breeders’ Stakes for the third time.
“Lisa said she is coming up nicely and she is going to have a trial at Foxton 10 days before the Westbury. We are very aware that we are going to get a lot of weight in the Westbury, so we will just see what comes.
“She is a good 1400m horse and we are hoping that she comes up again. She is getting older and she is going to have to carry some weight.”
Woodhouse is also excited about the prospects of his promising three-year-old filly Connello, who is set to return to Trentham next week to tackle the Gr.3 New Zealand Bloodstock Desert Gold Stakes (1600m).
The daughter of Time Test was runner-up at the Upper Hutt venue last month in the Gr.2 Eulogy Stakes (1600m) for Latta, and Woodhouse is hoping she can go one better next week.
“She is doing everything right. Track conditions we don’t seem to worry about, she handles firm or a wet track,” he said.
“The Desert Gold is her aim. She has had a couple of good runs down there. She is a gutsy little filly.” – LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
