News

Bellatrix Star dominates September (Early) Sale, realising $900,000

9th Sep 2026

An ecstatic John Galvin of Fortuna Racing was “blown away’’ and “thrilled’’ with the sale of his high-class race filly Bellatrix Star, which topped today’s Inglis Digital September (Early) Sale at $900,000.

The Mark Walker-trained Bellatrix Star was the target of some of the biggest bloodstock operations in the world today, eventually selling to Widden Stud and Julia Ritchie’s Bangaloe Stud.

The mare – initially purchased by Galvin and Te Akau’s Sir David Ellis as a yearling - will be served by Widden’s Champion stallion Zoustar.

Galvin and his Fortuna Racing partners were delighted with today’s outcome.

“It’s a fantastic result for us, it really is,’’ Galvin said.

“We had a reserve of $500,000 on her and personally I hoped she would sell somewhere between $600,000 and $1m so to get to the top end of that spread is absolutely amazing. To make $900,000 is simply incredible.

“I can’t fault the entire Inglis team. [Bloodstock Sales Manager and New Zealand representative] Brett [Gilding] was the liaison person for us and he was in constant contact keeping me up to date with everything that was happening along the way, providing feedback from various farms that you guys had interested in the mare and everything like that.

“We’re very happy with the professionalism Inglis brought to this entire process.’’

Widden’s Antony Thompson added: “She’s a lovely, fast filly with a very impressive record, her race career was sadly cut a bit short but to beat the older horses in the Schillaci like she did, she’s a Stakes winner at Flemington and to then run 2nd in a Coolmore, it’s a perfect profile of a beautiful filly for us and Julia Ritchie to send to Zoustar, whom she is a shareholder in.

“She earned over $1m in prizemoney, she won multiple Stakes races at two and three so we knew we were going to have to dig deep to buy her but I thought she was absolutely worth that price. Grant [Burrill] and Adam [Henry] from Widden Victoria visited her yesterday and were glowing in their praise.

“Mark Walker and Sir David Ellis and the entire Te Akau team identify such lovely physicals at the sales and they’ve had so much success so it’s nice to secure one of their yearling selections as a broodmare to join the Widden team.

“The Inglis team was, as usual, fantastic to deal with, Inglis Digital is the world’s leading platform to trade stock on and we’ve been a big believer in it from the outset.’’

Today’s second-top lot was the 4YO mare Chatterley (Snitzel), which sold to Broodmare Bloodstock for $250,000.

The Chris Waller-trained mare was offered by Denise Martin of Star Thoroughbreds, who described the outcome as “tremendous’’.

“We’re very pleased with the result, it’s been a tremendous process with [Inglis Digital Business Manager] Nick [Melmeth] and his team,’’ Martin said.

“We decided to offer the mare for breeding purposes and the Inglis Digital team handled everything so well, it was so seamless and the end result was fabulous.’’

There were many significant results in today’s September (Early) Sale, which resulted in 10 lots realising six figures, the others being Silverado ($205,000 to Brinawa Holdings), Infusion ($145,000 to Newgate Bloodstock), Smokin’ Princess ($140,000 to Precious Bloodstock), Couples Retreat ($135,000 to Ben Kwok), Aeolian ($120,000 to Sneesby Racing), Miss Snitz ($120,000 to Glenn Willis), Fly Lightly ($110,000 to Caithness Breeding) and Union ($105,000 to Mack Griffith).

Melbourne Cup winner Michelle Payne offered Smokin’ Princess on behalf of the ownership group, saying of the $140,000 result: “She’s been great for us, so honest, the owners are so happy with Inglis and the outcome today, they’re stoked.

“[Bloodstock Sales Manager] Will Stott helps me with everything I need, he makes the process very easy and makes you want to come back and do it again when the time arrives.’’

Another result in today’s auction that highlights the internationalisation of Inglis Digital was the broodmare Autumn Secret, which sold to UK-based bloodstock agent Sam Sangster for $47,500.

Sangster was bidding from the UK and secured the mare, which will now be served by his G1-winning first crop son of Frankel, Diego Velazquez, who stands under the care of his brother Adam at Swettenham Stud in Victoria.

“I’ve been following a few mares on Inglis Digital and I missed the last sale because I slept through so I made sure I’d set multiple alarms for this sale because I really wanted this mare,’’ Sangster said.

“The platform is very easy to use, there’s enough information on there to give any buyer anywhere around the world all the information they need to purchase with confidence.’’

In total the September (Early) Sale grossed $4,039,100.

“It was a very strong sale,” Inglis Digital Business Manager Nick Melmeth said.

“That is the third consecutive sale which has outperformed the corresponding sale 12 months ago in terms of gross.

“We are especially grateful to John Galvin, Sir David Ellis and all of those associated with Bellatrix Star for the opportunity to bring her to market, as well as Antony Thompson and Julia Ritchie for their willingness to really stretch for her.

“There were five individual bidders on her at $660,000 or above, which speaks to the ongoing demand for quality and we are looking forward to bringing more quality stock to the market between now and the end of the year.”

Entries are now open for the September (Late) Sale, which will run from September 18-23.

Entries close at midnight next Wednesday, September 16.

To enter CLICK HERE.