The Belles of Trentham continue to flourish
Haunui Farm as the venue to present the 2020 Eight Carat New Zealand Broodmare of the Year Award (sponsored by Arion Pedigrees) was highly appropriate.
This year’s winner, Meleka Belle (Iffraaj), dam of Champion racemare Melody Belle (Commands), calls Haunui Farm home, at least when she is not tripping back and forth to Australia to be mated with some of that country’s most proven stallions.
Also, her breeder, Marie Leicester, daughter of James and Annie Sarten, boards all her mares at Haunui Farm, which again makes perfect sense given the history between the Chitty and the Sarten families.
Leicester was presented with the accompanying trophy by NZTBA Auckland Councillor Michelle Saba.
Saba was exactly the right representative to make the announcement as it was she and her close friend Mary Burgess (now Corporate and Communications Advisor at NZTR), as employees of NZ Bloodhorse during the 1980s, who came up with the advertising phrase “The Belles of Trentham,” where many of the breed entered the world stage.
That phrase stuck and anyone with even the slightest knowledge of the breeding industry knows the reputation of the Belle family all too well.
The Sartens’ and the Chittys’ long association is significant yet they have a further connection: both families owe everything (thoroughbred-wise) to one stallion. That stallion is Foxbridge (Foxlaw).
Jim Sarten had the great foresight to recognise Foxbridge’s potential very early. In 1937 (Foxbridge’s first crop were just foals), he arranged to borrow a mare from a farmer neighbour friend. The mare was Belle Star and she was by the German-bred Lucullus (Ard Patrick), Champion New Zealand Sire in 1927-28.
Belle Star missed in 1938 but was returned to Foxbridge producing Belle Fox in 1939. Five wins, including at Ellerslie, Trentham and Te Rapa, suggested that Belle Fox was well above average on the track but at stud she created a fabulous dynasty to which Meleka Belle has added further prestige.
Given the strength of the family it might be considered a little surprising that it has taken this long for a member of the “Belle” line to achieve this award. To do so requires a very special year, either as the dam of multiple winners of major races, or – as in the case of Meleka Belle – as the producer of a multiple Group 1 champion such as Melody Belle.
But for the incredible 1966-67 season enjoyed by Galilee (Alcimedes), which saw his dam Galston (Balloch) as recipient, Belle Fox’s daughter Belle Rosa (Instinct) might have her name on the trophy due to the exploits of her wonderful daughter Star Belle (Summertime), but more on her a little later.
Belle Fox lived to a good age (23) yet produced just five foals. Her first, in 1948, was Lucky Belle (Admiral’s Luck) who never made it to raceday. At stud, her branch of the family enjoyed moderate success although none achieved Group 1 status. Descendants include Group 2 winners Cobra (Taipan II), Time Frame (Sovereign Slipper) and Bright Plume (Royal Plume).
Jim Sarten was on the right track, however. Admiral’s Luck was the first son of Precipitation to stand in New Zealand and after he sired the “Chestnut Thunderbolt” Mainbrace (23 stakes wins in 25 starts), further sons of Precipitation would soon follow and Belle Fox was to visit Summertime (Precipitation) not long after.
But before that she foaled a colt to Fair’s Fair (Fair Trial) in 1950. Named Supreme Court, he took out the Railway Handicap (Gr 1, 6f), one of 16 triumphs, and became the first of 23 Group 1 champions to represent the prolific family.
Belle Rosa followed in 1951 and she scored seven times including at Te Rapa and Avondale, plus she earned a stakes placing in the Newmarket Handicap (Listed, 6f) at Ellerslie before embarking on a first-class broodmare career.
Belle Rosa would in 1963 foal Star Belle, an outstanding filly and mare who took her talents to Melbourne after a flawless three-year-old season that included an Ellerslie Triple Crown of the Great Northern Guineas (Gr 2, 1m), Great Northern Derby (Gr 1, 12f) and Great Northern St Leger (Gr 2, 14f).
While in Melbourne Star Belle added quality victories at Flemington and Caulfield including the Turnbull Stakes (Gr 2, 12f), Craiglee Stakes (Gr 2, 1m) and J J Liston Stakes (Gr 2, 7f). In all she won 18 times and was Group-placed on nine occasions.
Star Belle’s grandson Wonder Dancer (Danzatore) took out the VRC Sires’ Produce Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) at Flemington and the Australian Derby (Gr 1, 2400m) in Perth.
Star Belle’s half sister Phar Belle (Pharamond) is the third dam of Golden Slipper Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) and VRC Newmarket Handicap (Gr 1, 1200m) winner Belle Du Jour (Dehere).
Returning to Belle Fox, Belle Time (Summertime) came along in 1953 and she too was to achieve enormous success as a producer after her racing days concluded with four wins.
It is this branch from which Meleka Belle descends. Belle Time was to foal four stakes winners including two Group 1 winners, namely Asgard (Hermes) and Honey Belle (Better Honey) whose daughter Imperial Belle (Sovereign Edition) tasted success at Flemington (where she placed at Listed level), Caulfield and Moonee Valley.
Imperial Belle produced Ellerslie winner Empress Belle (by Multiple Champion Sire Sir Tristram) in 1987 and 22 years later Empress Belle’s last foal Meleka Belle entered the world, proving that some things really are worth waiting for.
Belle Time’s daughter, Group 1-placed Lady Belle (Taipan II) would also visit Sir Tristram and the result was Tristabelle whose daughter Racy Belle (Straight Strike) would later become the grandam of Champion Two-Year-Old and Golden Slipper hero Dance Hero (Danzero).
Apart from the two Golden Slipper victors, there is also seven-time Group 1 star Grand Armee (Hennessy), simply a fabulous racehorse who took out five Group 1s at Randwick. His dam is a half sister to Oakleigh Plate (Gr 1, 1100m) victor Drum (Marauding) while his grandam Voltage (Whiskey Road) is a granddaughter of Dame Belle (Hermes), making her a sister to Asgard (above).
More than 100 Group and Stakes winners claim a direct connection to Belle Fox and 23 of those can boast Group 1 triumphs. The family is golden and who is to say that Foxbridge is not the foundational reason for the family’s accomplishments?
Foxbridge was the reason that the Chitty family outlayed 60 pounds for Foxona in 1960. The mare was ten years old at that time and had already produced several foals, one of which was Hilldale (Pride of Kildare), a well performed sprinter who ran second in the Railway Handicap (Gr 1, 6f) and who raced successfully in the USA after his export.
By then Foxbridge was firmly established as the greatest ever New Zealand sire. His 11 successive Sire Premierships followed by 11 successive Broodmare Sire Premierships speaks volumes of his dominance. If his record should be equalled it would be a miracle.
At the time of her purchase Foxona was in foal to Trelawney’s Marco Polo II (Le Pacha) but the resulting filly foal was never named. In 1964 she produced Rosehill (Test Case) and like the fillies from Belle Fox, Rosehill went on to be a wonderful producer after scoring the Royal Stakes (Gr 3, 1m) over the Ellerslie mile.
Rosehill’s son Prince Ruling (Ruling) claimed the George Ryder Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) and finished second in the 1980 W S Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2050m) behind Kingston Town (Bletchingly), who would also take out the 1981 and 1982 editions. Rosehill also foaled Rosie’s Girl (Zamazaan), winner of nine including the ARC Great Northern Oaks (Gr 2, 2400m).
New Zealand Two Thousand Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) victor Magic Cape (Magic Albert) and Queensland Derby winner Shootoff (Duelled) also trace directly to Rosehill.
In recognition of her importance to the stud’s beginnings, Foxona was recently memorialised with her own Wall of Fame which details seven generations of major winners in a giant family tree format.
Last Saturday, Travimyfriend (Tavistock) became the 43rd stakes winner to represent Foxona after his stylish victory in the Sofitel Handicap (Listed, 1400m).
Meleka Belle’s bloodlines feature a continuous line of Champion or Leading Sires but her beginnings are firmly connected to Foxbridge, the lynch pin for the Sarten and Chitty families’ continued success.