Michael Christian admits each time he goes to the races he thinks it could be the last time he watches his superstar Bella Nipotina, but there was a point where he thought she might not race at all.
The owner-breeder and former Collingwood star was there when Bella Nipotina “cut herself to ribbons” as a yearling before she had even seen a sales ring and forced a few tough decisions to be made.
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In a sliding doors moment, Christian believes it could be what allowed him to stay in the ownership of the Pride Of Dubai filly, who went on to be uninspiring in the sales ring, but a superstar on the track.
Bella Nipotina will look to win her third Group 1 in the Tattersall’s Tiara at Eagle Farm on Saturday in start 52, with Christian in awe of his iron mare, who continues to defy what most thought was possible for her with trainer Ciaron Maher.
Bella Nipotina has come into her own in Queensland this winter. Picture. Grant Peters — Trackside Photography.
After breeding the filly out of his mare Bella Orfana, Christian planned to send Bella Nipotina to the nearby Rosemont Stud to be prepared for the 2019 Inglis Melbourne Yearling sale, before it all went pear-shaped.
“We had three to go on the truck, we loaded her on first and there was a little holding yard 10m from the truck,” Christian said.
“We put her on and by the time we walked to get the next one, we heard this commotion and she had gone right off, gotten claustrophobic and flipped on the ground, almost on her back and was thrashing around.
“She ended up cutting herself to ribbons that day.
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“I had a decision to make at the time, we got her down to Rosemont as quick as possible and they patched her up, but she still bares the scars from it today.
“Most of that prep, when they were meant to be exercising, she was in a box getting patched up and the guys did a great job to even get her to the sale, but she looked a bit dumpy and a bit podgy there.
“David Hayes was the one who saw through all that and bought her, we were keen to stay in her and he asked us if we would so my brother and I stayed in for half the horse.”
Christian can see the irony that Bella Nipotina is now one of the most well travelled and toughest horses in the country, having starts in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Brisbane this year alone.
Michael Christian at the track.
“Maybe that first experience in the float made her, at the time I was thinking it was all shot,” he laughed.
“I’m in awe of what she has achieved and what she represents.
“It is mind-blowing that a horse that can almost win in the Debutant Stakes as an October two-year-old is running almost five years later in arguably career-best form.”
Christian revealed connections were on the cusp of retiring Bella Nipotina to the breeding barn a year ago, but are now glad they didn’t with more than $6m in prizemoney jumping in the account in the past 12 months.
“To extend like we did, I reckon she has won $6m in the last 12 months — it is hard to sell a yearling for $6m unless you are the daughter of Winx,” he laughed.
“She was already a Group 1 winner and we were very close to sending her to stud — I’m pretty thankful we didn’t.
“It’s fair to say over the last 12 months we have gone to the races thinking ‘this run could be her last.’
“We went to the Stradbroke thinking that if she ran down the track, which she was probably entitled to do, it could be it, but to do what she did was mind blowing.
“We will assess things after Saturday and consult with Ciaron and make a plan for her going forward.”