Cover image courtesy of Sportpix
On Tuesday afternoon, Ciaron Maher took to social media to announce the retirement of star mare Bella Nipotina (Pride Of Dubai). Debuting as a pre-Christmas juvenile in 2019, she has been first past the post 11 times in 57 starts, with a further 26 placings.
Originally trained by David and Ben Hayes and Tom Dabernig, she was an $80,000 Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale graduate when purchased by Lindsay Park and Andrew Williams Bloodstock, who has accumulated over $22.7 million (including bonuses) in prizemoney across five seasons of racing.
David Hayes, Tom Dabernig and Ben Hayes | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
Breeder and part-owner Michael Christian of Longwood Thoroughbreds had always loved the little bay filly, the first foal from Geelong-placed mare Bella Orfana (Star Witness) by Coolmore Stud’s Pri, but could never have imagined the heights she would climb to.
“To feel like we bred and raised her and remained in the ownership is something very special, and the excitement and the memories and the thrills that she gave our family is something that will be with us for a lifetime,” Christian said.
From near tragedy to precocity
In fact, Christian told The Thoroughbred Report that she nearly never made it to the track at all.
“In the early formation of our farm, we sent her and a couple of others to Rosemont Stud to prep for the sale, and in the truck on the way down, she flipped and cut herself to ribbons,” he shared. “At one point, we were even thinking we would lose her. Rosemont got her to the sale, but she had a very limited preparation. She had maybe three weeks of a proper prep.
“David Hayes bought her and we really loved her, so our family stayed in for a 50 per cent share.”
Michael Christian | Image courtesy of Inglis
Second by just 0.2l in the R. Listed Inglis Banner in the October of her 2-year-old year, Bella Nipotina was unlucky to miss out yet again by the same margin in the R. Listed Inglis Millennium in the autumn, ultimately finishing her juvenile campaign with two seconds and three fourth placings in five starts.
“To think that (the same) horse at seven would be winning an Everest and then backing that up two weeks later and dominantly winning the Russell Balding, you just can’t even believe it could happen,” Christian said of her early potential.
“You can go through all of the sprinting horses, particularly mares, of the last 20 or 30 years, and I’m not sure you’d come up with any names that have been able to do what she has done.”
“You can go through all of the sprinting horses, particularly mares, of the last 20 or 30 years, and I’m not sure you’d come up with any names that have been able to do what she (Bella Nipotina) has done.” - Michael Christian
Group 1 talent
The filly would break her maiden the following spring in the G3 Quezette Stakes for Tom Dabernig and Ben Hayes, where her gritty 2l win at Caulfield would earn her a swing at the G1 Moir Stakes next start. Her first crack at a Group 1 wasn’t to be, but the filly continued to rack up stakes placings over her 3-year-old season, running exceptional races to place behind the likes of Portland Sky, Isotope (Deep Field), and Odeum (Written Tycoon).
The now 7-year-old mare has been a staple of Ciaron Maher’s stable since the middle of 2021, after several of Maher’s clients were able to buy into her. She picked up her second career win at her second start for the stable, hitting the front almost immediately and flying home in the $130,000 Mares Handicap at Caulfield to win by 0.5l.
She proved herself worthy of another tilt at the highest level after demonstrating her versatility in the G3 How Now Stakes two starts late, coming from ninth at the 400-metre mark to win by 0.75l.
Bella Nipotina winning the G1 Manikato Stakes | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
Bella Nipotina stamped herself as Group 1 material truly with a devastating 0.1l second to Jonker in the G1 Manikato Stakes, followed by a chasing third to Nature Strip (Nicconi) down the Flemington straight in the G1 Champions Sprint.
It would be as a 5-year-old in 2022 that Bella Nipotina would first score at the highest level, going nailbitingly close in her return to the Moir, finishing second by 0.2l to Coolangatta (Written Tycoon), before breaking through in that spring’s Manikato.
It wouldn’t be any Group 1 win either; a field featuring G1 JJ Atkins Stakes winner Rothfire (Rothesay), three-time Group 1 winner Behemoth (All Too Hard), G1 Winterbottom Stakes victor Paulele, and multiple Group winner Best Of Bordeaux couldn’t close the winning margin by any more than 4.75l. This was just her getting started.
More in the tank
Bella Nipotina refused to be limited to just one state; she won Group 1 races in Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland, performed in two editions of the $5 million Quokka, and ran incredibly strong races in South Australia at the highest level. As a 6-year-old she seemed to grow again, sandwiching victories in the G1 Doomben 10,000 and the G1 Tattersall’s Tiara around narrow second placings in the G1 Kingsford Smith Cup and the G1 Stradbroke Handicap.
Bella Nipotina winning the G1 Everest | Image courtesy of Sportpix
In just this past spring, she became the first mare to win the G1 Everest, overcoming previous winner Giga Kick (Scissor Kick) and seven other Group 1 winners, sitting three-wide without cover the whole trip to demonstrate just how special she is. She backed it up again the next start with a scintillating 1.79l win in the $3 million Russell Balding Stakes, with several Everest contenders in the field behind her.
“You think that you love a horse, but you never even think that they can achieve anywhere near what she’s achieved,” Christian said. “It’s just been a phenomenal ride that we’ve been on.
“You think that you love a horse, but you never even think that they can achieve anywhere near what she’s (Bella Nipotina) achieved.” - Michael Christian
“In June 2023, we wondered whether to (retire her), but Ciaron encouraged us to continue, he thought there was more in the tank. There was also talk about her Queensland campaign last year, but then she came through it really well, and we were inundated with offers to run in the Everest. So we set our sights on the Everest, and the rest is history.
“The reception she got when she won the Russell Balding on Derby Day in Victoria was just mind blowing, and I think people really gravitated to her because of her honesty, and her bravery, and her toughness.”
Bowing out gracefully
Bella Nipotina bows out on a third placing, but a third by a margin of just 0.3l in the Champions Spring. Maher’s press release aptly describes her; ‘a marvel, an inspiration, and a true champion’.
“She pulled up quite jaded from the Champions Sprint and it was decided to give her a longer spell,” Christian shared. “And she had been back in work a couple of months, Ciaron and the team have done an incredible job managing her over the last 18 months, but it got to the point that Ciaron wasn’t happy with how she was progressing and put it to the ownership group that it was time for her to retire.”
Ciaron Maher | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
Maher himself shared, “Bella was the most consistent and toughest racehorse I have ever had the pleasure to train. She has given me some of my biggest thrills in racing and has had a wonderful career.
“I feel honoured to have been part of her journey, and the last 12 months have shown the true makings of a genuine Australian sprinter.”
“Bella (Nipotina) was the most consistent and toughest racehorse I have ever had the pleasure to train. She has given me some of my biggest thrills in racing and has had a wonderful career. I feel honoured to have been part of her journey, and the last 12 months have shown the true makings of a genuine Australian sprinter.” - Ciaron Maher
“The prizemoney is great,” Christian added, “but I think what it does is solidifies her in the history of racing. It won’t last forever, but to be second only to Winx in all-time Australasian prizemoney is quite a credit to her and the team behind her.”
He was full of gratitude not only for Maher and his team, but also to Bella Nipotina’s long-time partner in the saddle, Craig Williams, “I think an integral part of that team (around her) is Craig. He rode her most of the time and was obviously on board for the Everest. The affiliation and association he built with the mare was incredible.
“And credit to David Hayes right from the outset, he was the one that saw what might be, what potential there might be there.”
“Credit to David Hayes right from the outset, he was the one that saw what might be, what potential there might be there.” - Michael Christian
Bella Nipotina will be offered at auction in May, and Christian confirmed that a decision as to which auction house would hopefully be made by the end of the week. In a perfect world, he would love to retain her, but has to acquiesce to the decisions of the collective ownership group.
He concluded, “she’s an absolute marvel, and we are just so lucky and blessed to be associated with her right through her life from a foal, to weaning her, to watching her to go on and achieve what she’s achieved. It’s just surreal. It really is.”
