4 Wins 30 Hours - Bella Voce On Song Again

Making it back-to-back wins, Bella Voce (4 m Fastnet Rock – Keep On Singing, by Hennessy) stormed home to snatch victory in the $40,000 Rating 75 1200 metres on Saturday at Wanganui.

Lightly raced and talented, Bella Voce had picked up strongly from off the pace to win the Rating 65 1200 metres on 9 November at Te Rapa, and appeared ideally drawn (2) to rate a top three chance.

Although unable to utilize the draw by settling handy, rider Ashvin Goindasamy did the right thing by letting the mare find her feet behind a scorching pace, with a view that the leaders would tire, and once presented in the straight Bella Voce had the reserves to round them up.

“She jumped really well, but they were just going too fast,” Goindasamy said. 

“We ended up in a nice spot, but when the horses in front were stopping we had to get out of traffic and once she got out she attacked the line really strongly.”

Scoring by a nose in the race sponsored by Carpet Maintenance and Cleaning, Bella Voce ran 1200 metres in 1:10.6 on Soft5 footing, and drifted in betting to return $6.50 & $2.35 (fixed odds) on the NZ TAB. 

On course, co-trainer Sam Bergerson said: “She was very good late. Obviously the leaders went helter-skelter in front. I thought halfway down (the straight) she was no chance, but she slowly ground away and was really strong late. 

“She’s had a few problems early on in her career, but the penny is dropping and she is fit, sound, and really happy.

“She’s a valuable mare, being by Fastnet Rock as well, a beautiful strong mare and the goal at some stage will be trying to get black type.” 

Built in the mould of her Champion Sire, Bella Voce was purchased by David Ellis CNZM, from the draft of Coolmore Stud, at the 2022 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, and is owned by Te Akau Singing Star Racing Partnership (Mgr: Karyn Fenton-Ellis MNZM).

Te Akau has experienced great success with progeny of Fastnet Rock (Danehill) – who commanded a stud fee of A$275,000 – especially through the deeds of his greatest Group One winner Avantage (nine Group One wins), and other Group One winners Rock ‘N’ Pop, Heroic Valour, and Age of Fire.  Heroic Valour was actually his sire's first 2YO Group 1 winner anywhere in the world.

Her dam, Keep on Singing (Hennessy), was a very fast mare that won five races from 1200 metres to 1700 metres and stakes placed over a mile in America, whose first two foals were winners including Group Three runner-up Violinist (Fastnet Rock). 

Taken with the successful cross of Fastnet Rock and Hennessy mares, Ellis was keen to secure her for New Zealand.

“Fastnet Rock is a Champion Sire and the bloodline cross with Hennessy mares has worked very well,” Ellis said. “Fastnet Rock has crossed very well with American blood, in general.

“She’s won three times now, which is continually adding to her value, and provided she keeps improving the way she is then the prospect of racing in stakes' races becomes quite enticing.

“She’s out of a Hennessy mare, out of Woodman mare, out of a Nureyev mare, so there is an enormous number of quality sires in her distaff line.”

Bella Voce has an interesting influence of the mare Crimson Saint on each side of her pedigree. Hennessey is a son Storm Cat, whose service fee peaked at US$500,000, and Crimson Saint is his grand-dam. She features again in the pedigree of Fastnet Rock, as the dam of his dam sire Royal Academy. 

Crimson Saint was a flyer, with raw speed, and she is renowned for passing on blinding speed and also excellent physical balance to her descendants, and became a hugely successful producer – and a dominant reason behind the success of the Fastnet Rock/Hennessy cross. 

Bella Voce was strapped by Rasheed Alam. 

Photo credit - www.raceimages.co.nz