Back-to-Back Black Type for Bellatrix Star

Bellatrix Star (Star Witness) was one of the better two-year-old fillies in New Zealand last season, and she has quickly made her mark in Melbourne with a spring black-type double.

The daughter of Star Witness added Friday night’s A$200,000 Group Three Scarborough Stakes (1200m) at Moonee Valley to her victory in the Listed Cap D’Antibes Stakes (1100m) at Flemington in her previous start. Bought for $80,000 from Book 1 of Karaka 2023, she has earned A$438,757 from an eight-start, four-win career.

Trained by the Te Akau Racing team of Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson for John Galvin’s Fortuna Racing, Bellatrix Star kicked off her career with a smart win in the season-opening juvenile race at Wanganui in September of last year. She later went on to capture the Group Two Eclipse Stakes (1200m) at Pukekohe, beating subsequent Group One winners Move To Strike (I Am Invincible) and Velocious (Written Tycoon). In her only two-year-old start after that win, she ran a creditable fourth in the $1m TAB Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m).

Te Akau and Fortuna saw more than enough in those performances to test Bellatrix Star against some of Australia’s finest fillies this spring, and their faith in her has been richly rewarded.

Her win on Friday was an outstanding performance in the hands of jockey Michael Dee, sitting in fourth before pouncing at the home turn and kicking away for a smart win by three-quarters of a length.

“She's racing in great form,” Dee said. “She's been well prepared by the Te Akau team at Cranbourne.

“Tonight the firmer track was probably a question mark, since she was able to get soft ground at Flemington last time and she probably prefers that. But she’s improved again off that performance, and this win tonight just shows that she’s got a lot of versatility. Onwards and upwards from here.

“I think she’s going to be a good horse. She’s racing well at this sort of trip, and there are plenty of options for three-year-old fillies at this time of the year.”

The Te Akau team was represented by Ben Gleeson, who is Walker’s assistant trainer at Cranbourne.

“She’s certainly stood up to Melbourne metropolitan level and Group level,” he said. “It’s a massive confidence boost for us that she can do it on both good and soft tracks. She obviously won dominantly last start, but for her to put that field away again and improve and show that she's certainly up to maybe a better level, it’s a big boost for us. She showed her class tonight.”