Archer arrows in on some grand prizes with Belle Cheval
The Belle Cheval (Savabeel) story already has many twists and turns and after the filly’s breakthrough success in last Saturday’s Vinery Stud Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m), her owner-breeders David Archer and Diane Wright are eagerly anticipating the next chapter with some lofty spring ambitions in the pipeline.
Belle Cheval became the third stakes winner produced by her dam Keepa Cheval (Keeper) when she survived the persistent challenge – and subsequent protest – laid down by Dom Sutton’s filly After Summer (The Autumn Sun), in the process taking Archer and Wright’s joint Group 1 tally to a very sweet 16.
Ten of the best were provided by their magnificent sprinter-miler Mufhasa (Pentire), who raced as King Mufhasa in Australia where he collected the Toorak Handicap (Gr 1, 1600m) and the Futurity Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) – knocking off the reigning Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m) champion Pinker Pinker (Reset) – during a prolific patch of form on both sides of the Tasman Sea.
Mufhasa was prepared in his native New Zealand by the father-and-son training team of Trevor and Stephen McKee, best known for their expert handling of 13-time Group 1 heroine Sunline (Desert Sun).
It was on the advice of McKee Jnr that Archer and Wright purchased Keepa Cheval, and while the mare’s moderate racing career only produced one win – in a lowly maiden at Pukekohe – her time in the breeding barn has been nothing less than a stratospheric success.
Her third foal was The Bostonian (Jimmy Choux), who carried Archer’s grey and dark blue colours to seven stakes wins headlined by a trio of elite-level triumphs in Australia: the Doomben 10,000 (Gr 1, 1200m), Kingsford-Smith Cup (Gr 1, 1300m) and Canterbury Stakes (Gr 1, 1300m).
Once the Tony Pike-trained gelding had retired from racing with ten wins and prize-money earnings in excess of $1.8 million, his half-sister Cheval D’Or (Almanzor) promptly picked up the mantle and showcased the family’s versatility by winning the 2023 Trelawney Stud Stakes (Gr 3, 2100m).
At that time, Belle Cheval was approximately six months old and the initial intention had been to put the filly up for public auction in the hope that she might make even more than Cheval D’Or, who was purchased for $420,000 by Pike and The Oaks Stud – where the broodmare now resides.
However, as Archer explains, a phone call from his good friend Mark Chittick at Waikato Stud soon altered those plans.
“We do sell the majority of horses that we breed but from early on, Mark’s advice was that this filly was a keeper,” Archer told ANZ News from the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale where, despite landing a windfall on Saturday, the spritely 79-year-old was keeping his hands firmly in his pockets.
“A few years back Mark had told us that our mare was the perfect match for Savabeel, he was fully booked but we’ve known Mark for a long time now so he offered to find us a space for Keepa Cheval. Unfortunately she missed that year, but the next year he called me again with the same offer. Luckily this time she conceived, and the resulting foal was Belle Cheval.
“Mark loved the filly from the very start and he’s such a good judge that he convinced us to keep her – although when he told me she’d make at least $800,000 if we took her to the sale, I did have to take a very deep breath. That’s a lot of money to anyone but we’d already made up our minds that we were going to race her ourselves, and now I’m obviously very glad that we did.”
Given that prior to Saturday’s success she was only very narrowly denied victory in New Zealand’s richest race, the $4 million NZB Kiwi (Listed, 1500m), by one of Australasia’s most exciting fillies in Well Written (Written Tycoon), there is every reason for Archer and his breeding – and life – partner Wright to dream big this coming spring.
The lure of the $10 million prize pool on offer might persuade the pair to target the Golden Eagle (1500m) over a tilt at the Cox Plate, particularly now that she has already ticked the all-important Group 1 box and set herself up for a bright future career at stud.
Those provisional plans will be firmed up in consultation with trainer Mark Walker over the coming months, but in the more immediate future the filly will be briefly integrated into her new home at Cranbourne before spending some time resting and recuperating on the Monington Peninsula.
“She’s come a long way in a short space of time, her progress at home and in her races has been very fast but she deserves a nice break now,” said Archer.
“It was always the plan to only bring her over for one race, and she’ll stay in Australia for now. I had originally wanted to take her back to New Zealand with us and have her spell back home, but Mark’s the expert and he persuaded us to keep her over there, so she’s now officially a Melburnian.
“She’ll spend a week or so in the Cranbourne stables to get used to the environment, then head for a spell in the paddock. She’s got a lovely shape about her but I do think there’s still some improvement to come, so we’re already very excited about her next campaign as a four-year-old mare.
“We get the chance to dream with her now, she’s won a Group 1 in Australia pretty early on in her career so the sky’s the limit.”
Regardless of whether or not she can add to her Group 1 haul in the future, Belle Cheval will always hold a special place in the hearts of her co-breeders, who race the filly in partnership with Archer’s son Simon and daughter Natalie.
The quartet were trackside for Saturday’s nail-biting victory and once the dust had settled and the celebrations had died down, Archer made his way to the stalls area where he shared a touching moment with the heroine of the hour.
“We love all our horses, and this filly is already very special to us,” said Archer.
“After every race I always go and spend a bit of time with our horses, whether they win, lose or draw. I had five minutes with the filly in her box after her win, and it was a beautiful moment. She was so calm and we had a lovely kiss and a cuddle. Then once her feed had arrived she bared her teeth to tell me, in the nicest possible way, that it was time for her dinner.”
That same love and affection certainly extends to Keepa Cheval, who is currently in foal to Chaldean (Frankel) having previously produced a colt by another Cambridge Stud resident in Almanzor (Wootton Bassett), which was sold for $170,000 to Pike Racing at Karaka earlier this year.
While it may be tempting to plan another date with Savabeel (Zabeel) once she has given birth to her Chaldean foal, Archer and Wright are mindful that the mare is closing in on her 20th birthday and so retirement is inevitably beckoning.
“We would love to send her back to Savabeel, but as always the horse’s health comes first and we’re very conscious of her age,” said Archer.
“She’s been such a wonderful producer and has been so good to us, so we don’t want to push our luck and she’ll have a home for life on our property at Karaka. She’s a beautiful mare and we love her dearly, so she deserves to live a long and happy life in one of our paddocks.”
Once she has been pensioned, Keepa Cheval will have both The Bostonian and Mufhasa for company on the farm, with the duo treated as family pets now that they have long since lost their competitive edge.
“The Bostonian and Mufhasa share a paddock together and they’re the best of friends,” Archer told ANZ News.
“They occasionally lead out some of the big races in New Zealand, and when they’re not doing that we let the young kids take them out for rides. They’ve both got a beautiful nature, Mufhasa was the bravest racehorse you would ever meet but away from the track, he’s always been an absolute gentleman.
“The Bostonian was a bit different, he was always such a competitive beast and I got more than one bite from him, but now that he’s retired he’s just so relaxed and never gives us any problems. They’re like my pet dogs and I really enjoy spending time with them, as I do with all our horses.”