Belle Cheval, the winner of the Group 1 Vinery Stud Stakes at Rosehill in a thrilling finish last Saturday, has been sent to the paddock for a well-deserved spell.
“Belle Cheval has already been floated down to our Cranbourne stable, and she’ll spend a couple of days there just trotting out to familiarise her before she comes back into work to prepare for the spring,” trainer Mark Walker told LOVERACING.NZ.
“Her owners David Archer and Diane Wright like the idea of staying in Australia instead of kicking off her season back in New Zealand, mainly because those spring tracks back home are often so wet.”
Also coming out of that decision-making process was settling on Belle Cheval’s main target for the Spring.
“At this stage her main early target will be the Golden Eagle in Sydney,” added Walker, “which will allow plenty of time for the spell she’s earned and then have a steady build-up.”
The Golden Eagle is a $10 million race over 1500m … restricted to four-year-olds … with the 2026 edition schedule to take place at Randwick on October 31.
Belle Cheval provided one leg of a famous, two country, double Group 1 celebration for trainers Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson on Saturday, with Seize The Day also striking at the elite level in the Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes at Trentham.
The two victories could not have come in a more different fashion, Belle Cheval clinging on by the narrowest of margins and then having to survive a protest in the stewards’ room, while Seize The Day romped in by a decisive 4.50 length margin.
Seize The Day will also be spelled at this time.
