Bela-Bela’s Met gallop
Bela-Bela has all the credentials to make her a crowd favourite on Sun Met day. She’s a filly, she’s grey, she has a catchy name and she’s porcelain doll gorgeous. And better still, she’s more than just a pretty face and has the class and ability to give the boys a run for their money this Saturday.
The purchase
Bela-Bela was bred by Vaughan Koster’s Cheveley Stud in Ceres. By champion sire Dynasty and out of Cheveley blue hen, Mystic Spring who has produced such champions as Rabiya and Secret Of Victoria, Bela-Bela was more or less born with the stamp of greatness about her. Something of a late maturer, Bela-Bela was consigned on the 2014 National 2YO Sale and knocked down to Varsfontein Stud’s Susan Rowett for R1,4 million.
‘Just pink!’ – Bela-Bela at the sales
The price tag made Bela-Bela the highest priced filly on that sale by quite a margin – what made her such an attractive proposition? “Her pedigree, really,” explains Susan. “It was a family we always wanted and we’d managed to buy her half sister, Touch The Sky. And then I fell in love with her when I saw her because she was just pink! My brother was in America at the time and I kept sending him pictures of her.”
“It was quite funny,” says Susan, warming to her story. “I never actually viewed her formally, but our stable at the sales is right at the bottom of Block B, so Vaughan’s draft had to walk past us to get to the walking ring and every time they walked past, I made them stop so that we could look at her. Because she was Vaughan’s we didn’t even have her vetted. After we purchased her, John Freeman – who had been the under bidder for Drakenstein Stud – came over to say how much they’d wanted her. I casually asked whether she’d vetted clean and John said ‘Of course!’ Then he did a double take and asked ‘Didn’t you even vet her?’ We were probably a bit stingy,” she confides conspiratorially.
The name
‘Beach Bela’ – Bela-Bela on a recent beach outing to Muizenberg (photo: hamishNIVENPhotography)
Led through the ring unnamed, Susan christened her ‘pink horse’ Bela-Bela. “It’s after water,” explains Susan. “Her mother is called Mystic Spring and I have a friend from Warmbaths which is now called Bela-Bela and so we named her that.” Although R1,4 million is not to be sniffed at, Bela-Bela quickly proved that she was worth every penny. Only debuting as a 3yo, Bela-Bela won two on the trot, finished 5th to Silver Mountain in the Gr1 Cape Fillies Guineas and then 3 lengths third to Smart Call in the 2016 Gr1 Paddock Stakes. Her Durban campaign included victories in both the Gr2 Daisy Fillies Guineas and the Gr1 Woolavington 2000, before taking on the boys in the 2016 Vodacom July and finishing 2.65 lengths behind The Conglomerate.
She opened her 4yo campaign in style, winning a 1400m conditions plate at Kenilworth in December and trouncing a good field of fillies in the 2017 Gr1 Paddock Stakes before confirming her entry in the 2017 Gr1 Sun Met.
The challenge
Susan Rowett – racing is not about taking the soft option
Why the Met and not the ‘softer’ option of running in the Majorca Stakes? “That’s not why we race, is it?” says Susan with a twinkle in her eye. “There is a shortage of fillies races over the Met distance and we feel Bela-Bela is better suited to the longer trip. If we went for the Majorca, there was the danger that she might get caught out over a mile like they tried to do over 1400m – run at a slow pace and then risk being too far back and getting caught – so that was a factor.”
“Winning the Met has always been a dream. We only race fillies, which means there aren’t many opportunities and we feel if you get the chance you might as well go for it. Promisefrommyheart ran in the Met, but she’d already gone wrong by then. After Bela-Bela won that 1400m race in December, all the jockeys started calling up for the ride in the Met and we started thinking maybe we’d run. She has already proven her paddock value and as they say, nothing ventured, nothing gained.”
“The only reason she was caught out in the July is that she was at worse than WFA terms to The Conglomerate. This time she’ll be getting an allowance from the better horses, but will have to concede weight to some of the others. The main point is that it’s her distance and as we only race fillies, we feel we’ve got to seize the moment.”
“The best thing is that it’s got my kids so excited. My daughter Hanna was there when she first rain in the rain and really feels like she’s involved with her.”
The breeder
Vaughan Koster – proud breeder (pic: hamishNIVENPhotography)
Cheveley Stud’s Vaughan Koster has become something of an institution during the Cape Summer Season with previous Cheveley graduate Legislate also doing sterling service for the Snaiths. Asked about Susan’s ‘pink horse’ he laughs and says that in roan horses the brown and white coat colouring combines to look pink. “Pinky was actually her nickname on the farm. She always had a wonderful temperament – that family can be quirky at times. I believe she has started showing a bit of attitude as she’s matured, but that must have come afterwards. She was always very straightforward here. She was a late maturing filly, which is why we didn’t offer her at any of the yearling sales.”
As with all his horses, Vaughan keeps close ties on Bela-Bela and is very proud of her achievements. “It’s so pleasing for me to see somebody of Susan’s stature getting so much enjoyment out of this. The Snaiths are very good with their PRO and keep me in the loop all the time, which is wonderful and I do make the effort to go and see her when I can. I enjoy following our horses, particularly when they do well, although not all of them can, obviously. As breeders, we trade on what our horses do on the track – in fact, it’s all we have to trade on – so it’s only right that we follow our horses. It’s in our interest to take an interest. It’s not just a matter of selling them, handing them over and then taking the money and run. I like to speak to the trainers and go and see the horses if I can and I get a lot of enjoyment out of it.”
The philosophy
A few years ago, Vaughan took a conscious decision to take a ‘less is more’ approach and go back to the older methods of raising horses to be more hardy and forego the intensive feeding and exercise required to get yearlings into sales condition. “If I have a horse that’s mature and ready, I will go for an early sale such, but I’m not prepared to push horses just to get them onto a specific sale as I feel I do more harm than good in the long run and I prefer to give them the extra time.” It seems a sound philosophy. “Ha, yes, if you’ll excuse the pun! The essence at the end of the day is to breed a sound horse and that’s what I strive to do. I speak to trainers often to ask what issues they are having, whether any of our horses have soundness problems or notice anything that we can try and address or improve at home. At this stage, it seems we’re going the right way, so we’re sticking to that formula and hope it continues to pay dividends.”
Does Mystic Spring have any more progeny on the way? “Yes, she has a Captain Al filly that’s going to Nationals and she’s in foal to Captain Al again. She’s the ripe old age of 21 now, but looking a million dollars.”
What are his thoughts on Bela-Bela’s chances for Saturday? “One’s always hoping, but it’s a very tough race and there are some good horses to beat. But it’s a horse race, so you never know what might happen. As long as you have a ticket, you’ve got a chance!”
