Racing
Pedigree Profile: Belle Cheval
A look into the pedigree of Saturday’s Vinery Stud Stakes winner
The Kiwis got another one up on the Aussies in the Vinery Stud Stakes at Rosehill last Saturday, when Belle Cheval took out a dramatic edition of the 2000-metre Group 1 for three-year-old fillies.
The Mark Walker-trained filly scrambled home from After Summer after racing erratically in the straight, then had to survive a protest before joining Prowess (2023) and Orchestral (2024) as recent Kiwi fillies on the Vinery honour roll.
It was the first win at the highest level for the daughter of Savabeel, who placed in her homeland's One Thousand Guineas last spring and was narrowly beaten by Well Written in the rich The Kiwi, but far from the first Group 1 win for the family.
Belle Cheval is from the Keeper mare Keepa Cheval, who is a half-sister to Mufhasa, the Pentire gelding Aussies know as King Mufhasa, who was a multiple Group 1 winner on both sides of the Tasman and dual New Zealand Horse of the Year.
Belle Cheval carries the same colours as Mufhasa, being bred and raced by David Archer, along with his partner Di Wright and his children Simon and Natalie.
Keepa Cheval had already produced a Group 1 winner of her own, her third foal being the Jimmy Choux gelding The Bostonian, who won a Doomben 10,000 (1200m), Kingsford Smith Cup (1300m) and Canterbury Stakes (1300m) at Group 1 level.
Keepa Cheval is also a Group 1-winning broodmare with her first foal Vitesse, a daughter of Makfi, the dam of Group 1 Queensland Derby winner Kovalica, a son of Ocean Park.
Belle Cheval became the 36th individual Group 1 winner for Waikato Stud legend Savabeel, who is also the sire of Orchestral and another Vinery Stud Stakes winner Lucia Valentina
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