After Bell's the One (Majesticperfection) did not meet her reserve of $2.6 million at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale, owner Bob Lothenbach has decided to retain the 6-year-old mare and will breed her, reports her trainer, Neil Pessin.
“More than likely, the plan is to send her to the breeding shed,” Pessin said. “We don't know who we'll breed her to yet. It's yet to be determined, but we should decide that within the next two or three weeks. Bob is a breeder and has about 40 mares. He breeds a lot of Minnesota breds. She won't be one of those.”
Bell's the One has been sent to Collier Mathes's Chesapeake Farm in Lexington, Kentucky to begin preparations for her next career.
While he will miss having Bell's The One in his barn, Pessin said that with Lothenbach keeping her he will still have a connection to the mare.
“I thought we'd be right in that neighborhood,” Pessin said when asked if he thought she would meet her reserve. “Either way, I was going to be happy and sad. I was going to have the full spectrum of emotions no matter what happened. This way I get to go visit her at the farm and see the baby.”
Pessin said the plan is for Lothenbach to keep her foals and race them. Pessin will be the trainer.
“I'll be training whatever she has,” he said. “Hopefully, she's as good a mom as she was a race horse. Hopefully, we'll get one that takes us to the Derby. You might as well aim high.”
Pessin said no consideration was given to running Bell's The One next year.
“We decided at the beginning of the year that this would be her last year,” Pessin said. “We were hoping to enter the Breeders' Cup but that didn't work out. We decided that with her about to turn seven that she had done everything we had asked of her. She missed one race in five years that I was pointing to. I told Bob she can't do much more for us.”
A talented and durable sprint specialist, Bell's the One made 27 starts, won 13 races, 11 of them stakes and earned $2,000,675. Her biggest win came in the 2020 GI Derby City Distaff S. She also won the GII Raven Run S., the GII Thoroughbred Club of America S. and the GII Honorable Miss H.
“You don't replace a horse like that,” Pessin said. “You hope to get one that might be as good, but you never replace one like this.
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