Bellatrix Star (Star Witness) has defied early predictions and is set to be back at the races as early as Saturday at Caulfield after a stunning recovery from a fractured neck.
The spring’s best jockey, Mark Zahra, has been confirmed as taking his first ride aboard the now four-year-old as she races for the first time in more than a year in the A$175,000 Listed Doveton Stakes (1100m).
Such a comeback was something her connections dared not to even dream of at the start of the year when she broke her neck in a training accident at Cranbourne.
In early January, after a spring where she had run second in the Gr.1 Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m) at Flemington, Bellatrix Star reared and fell when exiting the pool, with the early prognosis indicating her racing days were done.
Trainer Mark Walker’s assistant Ben Gleeson explained that her future looked certain to lie in the breeding barn until connections took another x-ray of her neck and, to their surprise, found the injury had healed.
“It was just in a tricky enough position that all sorts of things could come about from it,” Gleeson said. “We weren’t sure if she was ever going to be able to be ridden again let alone get back to doing everything she is doing currently.
“We were going to retire her when she was out cantering in the paddock and we just thought we’d take a precautionary x-ray and it basically showed it had all healed, much to our surprise.
“We’ve been pretty level-headed the whole way through about where we are going to get to so, provided she has a smooth week at home, this weekend is exciting, although we’re just trying to keep a lid on it at the moment.
“We’ve still got no idea whether she is going to come back the same horse, but she ran through the line last Thursday in her trial and that gave us enough inclination that she’s got plenty of zest for racing. It’s going to be a tough ask on Saturday. She carries a big weight first-up for over 12 months.
“It won’t be easy but we’re hopeful of seeing her resume to a good enough standard to push onto the autumn. She’s had a few riders but I’m sure Mark Zahra will suit. He’s obviously a man in form and he’s got great hands. She’s renowned for being a bit keen and a bit fierce in her races.”
Bellatrix Star has raced just 11 times for five wins, including a Stakes hat-trick last spring of the Listed Cap d’Antibes Stakes (1100m), the Gr.3 Champagne Stakes (1200m) and the Gr.2 Schillaci Stakes (1100m), before her Coolmore Stud Stakes placing.