Bellatrix Star brings $900,000 to top Inglis Digital sale

Bellatrix Star has sold to Widden Stud and Julia Ritchie’s Bangaloe Stud for $900,000, topping the Inglis Digital September (Early) Online Sale after her retirement from racing last month.

Offered by Fortuna Racing, the five-year-old daughter of Star Witness attracted the highest price in the 275-lot catalogue and is set to go to champion sire Zoustar.

Bellatrix Star retired with five wins from 13 starts, including four stakes victories. Her record included the Group 2 Eclipse Stakes in New Zealand, Group 2 Schillaci Stakes at Caulfield, Group 3 Moonee Valley Champagne Stakes and Listed Cap D’Antibes Stakes at Flemington.

She also finished second to Switzerland in the Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes during a three-year-old spring campaign in which she won three black-type races in succession.

The mare was retired after a second bout of atrial fibrillation, which occurred while she was being prepared for the Group 1 Moir Stakes.

John Galvin and his Fortuna Racing partners were understandably pleased.

“It’s a fantastic result for us, it really is,” Galvin said.

“We had a reserve of $500,000 on her and personally I hoped she would sell somewhere between $600,000 and $1m so to get to the top end of that spread is absolutely amazing. To make $900,000 is simply incredible.

Widden’s Antony Thompson said the mare made perfect sense as a broodmare acquisition.

“She’s a lovely, fast filly with a very impressive record, her race career was sadly cut a bit short but to beat the older horses in the Schillaci like she did, she’s a Stakes winner at Flemington and to then run 2nd in a Coolmore, it’s a perfect profile of a beautiful filly for us and Julia Ritchie to send to Zoustar, whom she is a shareholder in,” he said.

“She earned over $1m in prizemoney, she won multiple Stakes races at two and three so we knew we were going to have to dig deep to buy her but I thought she was absolutely worth that price. Grant [Burrill] and Adam [Henry] from Widden Victoria visited her yesterday and were glowing in their praise.

“Mark Walker and Sir David Ellis and the entire Te Akau team identify such lovely physicals at the sales and they’ve had so much success so it’s nice to secure one of their yearling selections as a broodmare to join the Widden team.

Ritchie’s Bangaloe Stud has purchased a host of high-profile mares in recent months, including Complicit and Thalassophile for a combined $1.625 million at the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale and Arctic Glamour for $640,000 on Inglis Digital in July.

She has also acquired stallion shares in Extreme Choice and Anamoe.  

Chatterley, a stakes-performed daughter of Snitzel, was the next-highest seller, fetching $250,000 for Star Thoroughbreds by Broodmare Bloodstock.

Too Darn Hot’s Silverado was the highest-priced colt among the leading results, selling for $205,000. The three-year-old is out of the Group 1 winner Plucky Belle and was purchased by Brinawa Holdings.

Infusion, a five-year-old mare by I Am Invincible, brought $145,000 after being offered by Snowden Racing as agent, with Newgate securing her, while stakes-placed Fastnet Rock mare Smokin’ Princess sold for $140,000 to Precious Bloodstock.

The sale grossed $4.05 million, with 199 lots sold.