Te Akau and Fortuna Racing’s filly Bellatrix Star (Star Witness) proved she is among Australia’s top sprinting three-year-olds last Saturday at Flemington, finishing second in the A$2 million Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m).
The daughter of Star Witness was a Group Two winner during her juvenile term in New Zealand, but since relocating across to Mark Walker’s Cranbourne stable this season, she has gone to a new level with victories in the Listed Cap D’Antibes Stakes (1100m), Gr.3 Scarborough Stakes (1200m) and Gr.2 Schillaci Stakes (1100m).
Her impeccable form gave Walker confidence to press on to the feature and the filly rewarded that faith, settling near the tail of the field before surging down the inside of the track to finish 2-3/4 lengths behind a highly-impressive Switzerland, and ahead of Gr.1 The Everest (1200m) placegetter Growing Empire and Gr.1 Golden Slipper (1200m) winner Lady Of Camelot.
The performance earned Bellatrix Star a further A$350,000 in stakes, bringing her total to just shy of $1 million, after being purchased for just $80,000 by David Ellis and Fortuna out of Phoenix Park’s 2023 Karaka Yearling Sales’ draft.
Walker was thrilled with the effort, while indicating that the Flemington crowd may not have seen the last of Bellatrix Star over Melbourne Cup Week.
“She ran terrific, the colt (Switzerland) was just too good for us on the day, but she’s probably run to her career-best even though she’s run second,” Walker said.
“She might actually run on Saturday in the Champions Sprint (Gr.1, 1200m), we are nominating her and will make up our mind on Wednesday morning whether to accept. She’ll get in at a very light weight against the older horses.
“She went straight to the beach facility here after the races on Saturday, she’ll spend three days there walking in the sea to help her recover and goes out in the paddock during the day.
“She’ll come back into the stable on Wednesday afternoon.”
Walker won last year’s A$3 million Gr.1 Champions Sprint (1200m) with superstar mare Imperatriz, and ahead of nominations, New Zealand’s TAB have Bellatrix Star rated a $11 hope, with 2024 Everest runner-up Giga Kick on top at $4.20.
