Fortuna 3yo Filly, BELLATRIX STAR doubles down with emphatic Group Three Scarborough Stakes win at Moonee Valley 27th September
13 days after a dominant win down the Flemington chute in the (Listed) Cap D’antibes Stakes (1100m), three-year-old Filly Bellatrix Star (Star Witness – Alana’s Party) proved that win was no fluke with another emphatic victory at the iconic Mooney Valley circuit, this time taking out the Group 3 Scarborough Stakes over 1200 metres. Faced with a midfield draw, regular rider, the expat Kiwi, Mick Dee, soon had Bellatrix Star in a good position in the run, one out and one back – hooking her to the outside as the field made the turn into the straight, he asked her for an effort and hitting the front, was never headed under a hands and heels ride, going to the line with a 3/4 length advantage over the 2nd horse in a time of 1.10.41 seconds.
After winning at Flemington at odds of 14 to 1, punters were again not convinced that Bellatrix Star was the real deal and she won at starting odds of $9.50. This victory brings her career record to 4 wins from 8 starts with 3 of those wins at the elite black type level and has accumulated earnings of A$438,000 for her ownership group.
Click HERE to see the race replay
Retuning to scale aboard the Filly, rider Mick Dee was very complimentary, saying that the firm track at Mooney Valley was the pre race question mark, but she handled those conditions with aplomb and said that she seemed to be a very good sprinter on the way to bigger and better things.
Te Akau Racing’s Cranbourne Sssisatnt Trainer, Ben Gleeson, was on track and post race commented “It’s a massive confidence booster for us that she can do it on both good and soft tracks, she won dominantly last start, but for her to put that field way here, improve and show that she is up to a better level gives us a real confidence boost. I thought she had trained on [as a three-year-old] and Mark and I both thought she had improved in her condition, her work had been exceptional, but seeing that heavy track just gave us confidence at Flemington. There had been rain this week and we thought ‘oh perfect we’ll get a soft track’, it didn’t turn up, but Mick gave her a ten-out-of-ten ride, had her in the box seat, and she just showed her class.
“John Galvin, considering that he does not spend big money to acquire his horses, does an amazing job, finds a great syndicate of people and consistently buys a very good horse, whether it is in New Zealand or over here, so every year you see Fortuna turn up with a good set of silks on a nice horse, so really pleased for John and his team.”
BELLATRIX STAR – 4th Raceday win – Moonee Valley – 27th September 2024 – Mick Dee aboard
Trainer, Mark Walker, had watched the race from his New Zealand based, but was equally pleased “Bellatrix Star was brilliant tonight at Moonee Valley, backing up 13 days after a really good win at Flemington, but this time on a much firmer track proving that she is a very versatile sprinter – she was given a 10 out of 10 ride by Mick Dee and I think she has a really exciting future in front of her – congratulations to John Galvin and his team – John and I have been working together for over 20 years and have shared countless winners over that time. He is a great supporter of Te Akau Racing and he and his ownership group deserve every success that they get. She’s another incredible purchase by Dave (Ellis) for only $80,000 and she’s certainly proving her worth and a lot more. She’s a very exciting filly for her owners.”
Walker suggested that Bellatrix Star may now freshen-up for a tilt at the) $2m Coolmore Stud Stakes (Gr. 1, 1200m on Derby Day (2 Nov.) at Flemington, a race won by her sire, Star Witness (Starcraft), in 2010
John Galvin had travelled from his New Zealand home to be present on track at Mooney Valley for the race, along with a small group of supporters and when accepting the winners trophy at the after race presentation said “She really showed us as a two-year-old in New Zealand that she had ability, she won at Group 2 level on New Year’s Day, but then didn’t get all favours in the Karaka Million when fourth and then she went shin sore, so we didn’t run her in the two Group 1 races in the autumn. Mark Walker said to me in July that he thought we should take this horse to Australia because she’s an out-and-out sprinter and he thought she would be better suited over there. So that’s what we’ve done and now we’ve won two really good races in a row, so we’re pretty excited.”
John Galvin’s Fortuna Syndications have had great prior success when bringing horses across the Tasman to Australia, most notably landing the 2019 Empire Rose Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) at Flemington with Melody Belle (Commands), one of the mare’s 14 career Group 1 wins “Melody Belle won 14 Group 1s, whereas this filly is still only a Group 2 and Group 3 winner, but they’ve all got to start somewhere,” he said. “This is a big stage and we’re really happy. Apart from a couple of syndicate members who live over here, the rest live in New Zealand so it’s always great to come to Australia, particularly Moonee Valley, and win a big race like this – congratulations to Mark Walker for a fabulous training effort with this horse, ably assisted by Ben Gleeson and once again David Ellis has proven to be a master selector finding this wonderful Filly for me at Karaka”
Ellis had purchased Bellatrix Star on behalf of Fortuna Racing for $80,000 from the NZ Bloodstock Karaka 2023 Sale
Bellatrix Star is owned and raced by the Fortuna Bellatrix Star Syndicate, an Ownership Group consisting of 69 individuals from New Zealand and Australia
Bellatrix Star was strapped by Wyatt Jenkins.