Tag: Simon Callaghan
Distaff: Harvest Moon, Ollie’s Candy Test Keeneland Main Track
Alice Bamford and Michael Tabor's Harvest Moon and Paul and Karen Eggert's Ollie's Candy, two pre-entrants for next Saturday's $2 million Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1), put in their final works for the 1 1/8-mile main track test at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky.
With jockey Flavien Prat aboard, Harvest Moon worked 5 furlongs in 1:01 in company shortly after the track opened for training at 6 a.m.
“Flavien was very, very happy (with the work). I got her in a minute and four-fifths,” said trainer Simon Callaghan, who arrived in Lexington Wednesday night from his Southern California base, a few days after Harvest Moon arrived. “She has settled in nicely and it looks like she handled the track well.”
Currently housed in the Calumet Farm training barn, Harvest Moon will make the short trip of less than a half-mile south on Rice Road to the Breeders' Cup barns on Tuesday.
Ollie's Candy, second here Oct. 4 in the Juddmonte Spinster (G1), worked 6 furlongs in 1:11 in company under Juan Leyva, assistant to trainer John Sadler.
“I talked with John last night and he said she needed a good work,” Levya said of Ollie's Candy, who had worked a bullet 5 furlongs in :59 Oct. 24. “It was a little quick, but she did it well.”
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Bellafina and Donna Veloce Retired
MGISW Bellafina (Quality Road–Akron Moon, by Malibu Moon) was pre-entered for the GI Breeders’ Cup F/M Sprint Monday, but was scratched Tuesday and is now retired after developing a minor issue in her Oct. 24 breeze at Keeneland (five furlongs in 1:00.60), according to owner Kaleem Shah.
Shah noted that ‘TDN Rising Star’ Donna Veloce (Uncle Mo–Coin Broker {Ire}, by Montjeu {Ire}) has been retired as well. Both mares will join Shah’s broodmare band with Bellafina set to visit Uncle Mo and Donna Veloce booked to Justify. The news was first reported by the Daily Racing Form.
“Bellafina had a small issue after the work and since it is so close to the Breeders’ Cup, we thought it was best to have her go an be a momma,” Shah said when reached by phone Wednesday. “She has been super good to us all of these years, winning multiple Grade Is as a 2-year-old and winning the [GI] Santa Anita Oaks. She has had a wonderful career, but we always air on the side of caution and never take any chances with any of our horses. She will be bred to Uncle Mo next year.”
Bred by JSM Equine, Bellafina was purchased by Shah for $800,000 at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream 2-Year-Old Sale and turned over to trainer Simon Callaghan. Earning her diploma at second asking in the 2018 GII Sorrento S., the bay won both the GI Del Mar Debutante S. and GI Chandelier S. that season. She kicked off 2019 with a trio of victories in the GII Santa Ynez S., GII Las Virgenes S. and GI Santa Anita Oaks. Flying late to be a close second to dual champion Covfefe (Into Mischief) in last year’s Breeders’ Cup, Bellafina was also second in the GI La Brea S. The 4-year-old won the GIII Desert Stormer S. in May was second in both the GII Great Lady M. S. July 4 and GI Ballerina S. Aug. 8. She retires with a record of 18-7-5-1 and earnings of $1,617,975.
A $450,000 KEESEP yearling buy, Donna Veloce was also bought for $800,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Sale and joined Bellafina in Callaghan’s shedrow. Earning the ‘Rising Star’ nod off a dazzling debut win at Santa Anita last September, she was a neck second to champion British Idiom (Flashback) as the favorite in the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, after which she was bought into by the Coolmore contingent. Second to Bast (Uncle Mo) in the GI Starlet S. in December, the bay captured the GII Santa Ysabel S. Mar. 8 and given a brief freshening, but made the GI Kentucky Oaks Sept. 4, where she finished eighth.
“Donna Veloce has also been retired,” Shah said. “After the Oaks, she came up with a small injury. We had given her plenty of time off after her race in March to recover from that and she seemed a little ouchy again [after the Oaks]. We thought it was best for her to become a momma and she is going to be bred to Justify next year.”
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Grade 1 Winner Bellafina Out Of Breeders’ Cup, To Be Bred To Uncle Mo In 2021
Multiple Grade 1 winner Bellafina was scheduled to have a farewell start in the upcoming Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Keeneland, but trainer Simon Callaghan told the Daily Racing Form that it would not come to be, owing to a “minor issue.”
The 4-year-old daughter of Quality Road will instead prepare for her first mating in 2021 with champion Uncle Mo, a resident of Ashford Stud in Versailles, Ky., who has rapidly become one of North America's top commercial sires.
Owned by Kaleem Shah and the Coolmore partnership, Bellafina has won seven of 18 career starts for earnings of $1,617,975. She was one of the top juvenile fillies of 2018, notching victories in the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante Stakes and G1 Chandelier Stakes, as well as the G2 Sorrento Stakes.
Bellafina then won her first three starts as a 3-year-old, taking the G2 Santa Ynez Stakes, G2 Las Virgenes Stakes, and G1 Santa Anita Oaks. Later that year, she finished second in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint.
The filly's 4-year-old campaign included a victory in the G3 Desert Stormer Stakes, and runner-up efforts in the G1 Ballerina Stakes and G2 Great Lady M Stakes.
Uncle Mo, a 12-year-old son of Indian Charlie, stands at Coolmore's Ashford Stud for an advertised fee of $175,000.
His initial crop of runners helped him set the record for progeny earnings by a freshman sire in 2015, led by Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner and champion Nyquist. The same horse won the following year's Kentucky Derby. Since then, Uncle Mo has established himself as one of the breed's most reliable sources for high-level runners and high-dollar auction horses.
The standout SoCal filly Bellafina won't run in the @BreedersCup Filly-Mare Sprint and has been retired, per @simon_callaghan. “Minor issue” precluded her from one final start. G1-winning earner of $1.6M goes to Uncle Mo early next year.
— Marty McGee (@DRFMcGee) October 28, 2020
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