By Katie Petrunyak
Bellavinino (Get Stormy), who was a fast-closing second in the Kentucky Downs Juvenile Fillies Stakes in her most recent start, will be the first horse offered by Taylor Made Sales through Inglis Digital USA.
Bidding is currently open for the online auction's September Sale and lots will close on Wednesday, Sept. 25 starting at 2 p.m. ET. Bellavinino will sell as Hip 18.
Taylor Made's Steve Castagnola said their team is excited about making their Inglis Digital USA debut.
“This is the first time Taylor Made has consigned on the Inglis platform and we have been impressed,” he said. “We're excited to see how Bellavinino sells on Wednesday. The buyers have really caught on to the concept of these digital sales and they are having a huge impact on the industry right now.”
Campaigned by C2 Racing Stable and trained by Saffie Joseph Jr., Bellavinino broke her maiden on debut by 3 1/4 lengths over the Gulfstream Park turf on July 28. After finishing fourth against allowance company at Kentucky Downs in her next start, she returned to the same track for the one-mile Kentucky Downs Juvenile Fillies Stakes. After breaking alertly, the filly raced off the pace in third but was boxed in coming into the stretch and had to angle out to get up for second.
“She did not get a very clean trip down the lane, but she showed that she is game and she is tough,” said Castagnola. “She is a very exciting opportunity because she's a lightly raced 2-year-old and has already shown that she has a ton of class. She's extremely good-looking. She has a great, clean neck, a huge shoulder and a deep heart girth. She looks the part.”
Castagnola said that he believes the best is yet to come for the juvenile not only because her numbers have improved in each of her three starts according to Ragozin and Thoro-Graph figures, but also because the filly's sire Get Stormy performed at his best as an older horse.
“Get Stormy won his first Grade I as a 5-year-old in the Maker's Mark Mile Stakes and then he won the GI Woodford Reserve Turf Classic Stakes at Churchill Downs,” Castagnola recalled. “He also won a Grade I as a 6-year-old. His best daughter, Got Stormy, won two Grade I races at four and another at six. For me, the fact that this filly has shown so much precocity is somewhat of an anomaly and I would think that she would do nothing but get better with time.”
Castagnola pointed out that Bellavinino is eligible for a $110,000 non-winners of two turf allowance at Keeneland on Oct. 11. She is also nominated for the GIII Surfer Girl Stakes at Santa Anita on Oct. 6.
“Should she win that, it would all but guarantee her a spot in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf,” he said. “And than with an eye to the future, she has already proven than she likes Kentucky Downs, which not everybody does. That would give me hope that she would figure prominently in some of those big-money races next year.”
In her first three career starts, Bellavinino has amassed earnings of $224,800.
“Being stakes-placed as a 2-year-old gives her some residual value,” said Castagnola. “Given her looks and the fact that she's already blacktype, she'd make a nice addition to a lot of broodmare bands. But being just a 2-year-old and with the way that she is bred, I think the best is still yet to come on the racetrack.”
Castagnola said the Taylor Made team has seen the growth of the digital sales arena benefit buyers and sellers alike.
“I think the evolving presence of the digital sales in the marketplace, along with the quality of the offerings being consigned, is ensuring that any serious buyer of bloodstock must look through the catalogs as these sales happen,” he said. “For us to be in a position to consign quality horses like Bellavinino at an opportune time like now gives the seller the opportunity for liquidity and a buyer the opportunity to buy a turn-key, race-ready 2-year-old with two logical spots to run in.”
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