Well-related Cambridge Stud mare Bella Waters was thrown in at the deep end for Saturday’s Listed Campbell Infrastructure Rotorua Cup (2200m), but she proved that she belonged at black-type level with a highly valuable win.
Bred and raced by Brendan and Jo Lindsay, Bella Waters is by Sacred Falls out of the Irish-bred mare But Beautiful. That makes her a half-sister to Immediacy, a classy Melbourne three-year-old who won this season's Gr.2 Autumn Classic (1800m) at Caulfield.
Bella Waters made her debut only seven months ago, finishing fourth over 1200m at Tauranga on October 18. The four-year-old has come a long way in a short time since then, scoring a maiden win at Ruakaka and a Rating 65 victory at New Plymouth before stepping up to the big time in her ninth career start in Saturday's $100,000 staying feature.
Jockey Masa Hashizume took up a midfield position in eighth as Roger That and Enright set a moderate pace out in front. The speed increased when Langkawi surged forward and took over around the 1000m mark, but Hashizume had Bella Waters travelling comfortably and began to creep closer coming down the side of the track.
Bella Waters was full of running at the home turn but had a wall of horses in front of her. Hashizume spotted a narrow opening four off the rail around the 250m mark, and Bella Waters pinned her ears back and charged through.
Bella Waters hit the lead with 100m remaining and kept going strongly to maintain a half-length advantage over the late-finishing Aljay and Elegant Lady.
Bella Waters has now had nine starts for three wins, a placing and $89,770 in stakes.
"This mare has just improved with every single run," said Moira Murdoch, who trains in partnership with her daughter Kieran. "She's so honest.
"She had a bit of weight relief today with 53kg and just got a beautiful run in transit. When she came up behind all those other horses coming up to the straight, I was just hoping we'd get a run through them. Once she got through, she really stretched out and won well.
"She's definitely a very nice staying prospect, and she's done a huge amount in just one preparation. I'll talk to Brendan and Jo about what we do next, but I'd imagine she'll go out to the paddock now and we'll wait for next season."
Bella Waters joins Immediacy as the second stakes winner among four foals to race out of But Beautiful, all of which have been winners.
But Beautiful had a yearling by Cambridge Stud's new shuttle stallion Hello Youmzain in Book 1 of Karaka 2024 in January. That filly was bought for $280,000 by Immediacy's trainers, Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young, in partnership with Andrew Williams Bloodstock.
But Beautiful was served by fellow Cambridge Stud stallion Embellish last spring.
