High Hopes for Blueblood

1 May 2011

Star Continues To Shine

Powerful three-year-old Aldebaran Star has made an encouraging start to his career and the strapping chestnut added another notch to his belt at Woodville. He was comfortably downed his Rating 70 sprint rivals to take his record to two wins and five placings from eight appearances.

He is trained at Awapuni by Trina Marshall whose partner Jonathon Riddell not only rode Aldebaran Star but also purchased him at the 2009 Festival Sale at Karaka after the gelding had originally been sold through WS’s weanling draft the previous year for $14,000. A half-brother to the stakes winner Tootsie (Pins), he is out of the O’Reilly mare Hyades who is a half-sister to the Listed winner La Rose Noir and the Centaine mare is in turn the dam of Espurante (Listed AJC Bell Handicap).

The Corner with Garry Chittick

No Corner last week; this week the Annual Thoroughbred Racing Awards night certainly deserves acknowledgment. It is the second of two nights of measurement of Thoroughbred achievements for the year, with the first focussing on our Breeders’ awards.

9 September 2026

Savabeel’s Group 1 daughter Belle Cheval retired

Belle Cheval, by champion sire Savabeel, enjoyed a stellar career: placing in the NZ 1000 Guineas, winning the Almanzor Trophy and Uncle Remus Stakes, finishing second in The Kiwi, then claiming Group 1 glory in Australia’s Vinery Stud Stakes before retiring to broodmare duties.