Bellabel well worth the wait with major Stateside victory

Having to decide that a young horse will miss their sales date is not something that tends to fill breeders and vendors with optimism. There are only certain windows where potential can be realised.

For Bellabel, time has been a healer ever since she was withdrawn from the rescheduled 2020 Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale in Newmarket.

The daughter of Belardo, bred by Fergus Cousins and prepared by Paddy and Peter Kelly’s Ballybin Stud in County Meath, showed progress for Jessica Harrington as a two-year-old to win a nursery at Naas last September.

A move to California-based Phil D’Amato saw Bellabel achieve black type on her debut at Santa Anita in January. Another break and now she is a Grade 2 winner, leading home a 1-2-3 of the stable’s Irish-bred recruits in the San Clemente Stakes at Del Mar on Sunday.

"It was funny the way it worked out," said Peter Kelly. "It was the year that the sales moved to England because of Covid, she was a big, backward filly and we didn’t think she was likely to make enough. It was actually the best thing that could have ever happened to her that she stayed back for the sale at Fairyhouse in December.

"She actually went back out to the fields for a few weeks and by the time she came back in she was like a different horse altogether. Maybe it was a bit of a break from the prep, it just really was the making of her. She was a lovely mover, had time to fill into her big frame and made €33,000, which was a great price for that smaller sale."

He continued: "I was reading Phil D’Amato saying after her win in January that he decided to give her a break and it's kind of been the story of her life so far. Time has been her best friend and she’s flourished when given the chance, I suppose, whether in the sales ring or on the racetrack."

The Kellys have been prepping yearlings and foals for Cousins, a retired vet from nearby Dunshaughlin, for around 15 years. He had bought Bellabel’s dam Fashion Line, a winning daughter of Cape Cross, for €32,000 at Goffs in 2017.

"He’s had some nice mares, one called Grand Zafeen has had three black-type foals [including Archie Watson’s French Listed winner Band Practice], but I’m not sure there's been one as exciting as Bellabel, who is hopefully Grade 1 class," said Kelly.

"Fergus has been with us a long time and it’s a nice boost for him, he’s getting a great kick out of seeing this filly and reading about her."

It could get even more exciting, with Kelly explaining that there will be plenty more action in the ring to watch.

"Fashion Line has a Holy Roman Emperor yearling filly, she's going to Part 1 at Fairyhouse [of the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale], and she's just coming in this week to start her sales prep," he says.

"She’s very similar, apart from being a lighter colour, and I’m kind of hopeful about her, there’s plenty about her to attract nice buyers.

"The mare has a Profitable filly foal at foot, the plan is to sell her as a foal as well, and Fergus has gone back to the well as she’s back in foal to Belardo."

Peter Kelly has largely taken over the running of Ballybin from his father and has had to navigate a difficult period for a farm that caters for quite a lot of small, local breeders like Cousins. While Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic have provided complications, he feels optimistic about his selection of offerings for later this year.

He bred the 2016 Irish 1,000 Guineas winner Jet Setting and the farm was also responsible for selling last year's King George Stakes winner Suesa on behalf of Tom Cooke of Thomastown Farm. A half-sister by Ghaiyyath is set to be part of the foal sale contingent.

"Tom is only a few miles away from Fergus - I think there must be something in the water over that area," says the genial Kelly.

"It’ll be the third sales season with the hold of the reins myself, it’s a challenge but I’m in a lucky situation.

Peter Kelly is now at the helm of Ballybin Stud

"We’ve some nice foals on the ground ourselves. We were always foal sellers when Dad started out and I'm trying to move it back to selling foals again a little bit more, hoping to stand out a little bit.

"We’ve a nice Saxon Warrior colt, he’s probably our best looking walker, out of a young sprinting mare, and there’s an Elzaam filly, a half-sister to a couple of stakes horses. We felt Elzaam was good value, he’s got a few fans I think and hopefully we can't go too far wrong at his price.

"Then there’s a first-season sire horse, a lovely Circus Maximus colt out of a black type Giant's Causeway mare who has produced a couple of half decent ones."

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