Another chapter was written in the amazing story of Bella Vella (Commands), whose connections turned their $22,500 investment into a $1.9 million windfall for the G1 Robert Sangster S. winner with Rosemont Stud the winning bidder.
She was consigned by Glenesk Thoroughbreds on behalf of her ownership group, who paid $22,500 off the Inglis Digital platform in April 2019. At that stage, she had already been tried as a broodmare, missing to Criterion (NZ), whose stud career was curtailed by fertility issues.
Twelve months later under Will Clarken’s guidance, she became a stakes winner before leading all the way in the Robert Sangster at Morphettville.
Fast forward another 12 months, and she was again at the centre of celebrations, as Rosemont fought off substantial competition from the Written Tycoon Syndicate to land the sought-after mare, with a first stallion mating for her yet to be determined.
“It’s terrific. Obviously the monies fantastic, but it’s the appreciation of how good a horse she was and also how good a physical she was. I love horses and she’s as good a type as you will see and I am just so happy that people have respected that and respected how much ability she had,” Clarken said.
“Myself and my racing manager Lachie Weekley and two of my oldest and best friends in Patrick and John Kelton and obviously my mentor David Jolly are all in her and so are the Rushton Park guys who have been with me from the start when I had five or 10 horses in work.”
Rushton Park’s Kayley Johnson was quite emotional after the Sale, with her and husband David having been part of the Bella Vella journey since she was purchased out of the Digital Sale.
“I didn’t feel nervous at all this morning, but the last 10 minutes coming in, I started to get the shakes a bit and felt a knot in the pit of the stomach,” she said.
“It’s terrific. Obviously the monies fantastic, but it’s the appreciation of how good a horse she was and also how good a physical she was. I love horses and she’s as good a type as you will see and I am just so happy that people have respected that and respected how much ability she had,” Clarken said.
“Myself and my racing manager Lachie Weekley and two of my oldest and best friends in Patrick and John Kelton and obviously my mentor David Jolly are all in her and so are the Rushton Park guys who have been with me from the start when I had five or 10 horses in work.”
Rushton Park’s Kayley Johnson was quite emotional after the Sale, with her and husband David having been part of the Bella Vella journey since she was purchased out of the Digital Sale.
“I didn’t feel nervous at all this morning, but the last 10 minutes coming in, I started to get the shakes a bit and felt a knot in the pit of the stomach,” she said.
“I was just a bit overawed because it’s the end of an amazing ride for us, to have her win a Group 1 where she has come from is just phenomenal.
“It means a lot, we’ve never been lucky enough to sell a million-dollar horse and this is just amazing for us. It’s an unbelievable experience. We were hoping for anything over $1 million, so $1.9 million is just amazing.”
For Clarken, it was very much a vindication of the decision to offer the mare at the Gold Coast, having retired her after she finished down the track in the G1 The Galaxy in March.
“She had run her race I think. We had a choice to bring her back to the Sangster again, but we decided to retire her and I think it’s the best thing we did because she let down and she looks fantastic,” he said.
“She didn’t look racy here at the sales. She looked like the beautiful mare that she is. All credit to Rachael and Brett Howard, they presented her beautifully and they did the job of showing the premium product we had here.”
Rosemont Stud Principal Anthony Mithen held his nerve during a tense dual.
“I was nearly out of bullets. Those competitive juices kicked in. It is a lot of money, but she is a quality product. She is by a quality broodmare influence in Commands. She has got a beautiful family and how they got her at that price online a couple of years ago, is beyond me,” he said.
Mithen said the quality of Bella Vella took him by surprise when he inspected her ahead of the Sale, and from that moment, he and his team were determined to take her home.
“I expected her not be as good a type as she is. I thought she might be bit scrappy because they didn’t pay much for her online. It just shows that if you do your homework, and you get around, you can find a nice horse at all levels in the market,” he said.
He said Rosemont would keep an open mind on which stallion Bella Vella would visit in 2021.
