Haunui Farm welcomed Champion European two-year-old Belardo to their stallion roster in 2017, where he stands for a fee of $12,000+gst. His first crop of yearlings will be offered at Karaka next month.
The multiple Group One winner is a son Lope de Vega and a half-brother to multiple Stakes winner Berling, being out of Ireland’s 2002 Champion two-year-old filly Danaskaya.
A debut winner at two, Belardo went on to win the Listed Washington Singer Stakes (1400m) at Newbury before capturing his first Group One in the Dewhurst Stakes (1400m).
His three-year-old season was marred by near-misses. Belardo finished fourth in the Gr.1 Irish Two Thousand Guineas (1609m), less than two lengths behind winner Gleneagles. He also finished third in the Gr.2 Challenge Stakes (1400m) at Newmarket and second in the Gr.1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (1600m) behind Solow at Ascot.
At four he went on to claim the Gr.1 Lockinge Stakes (1600m). He then finished runner-up to Tepin in the Gr.1 Queen Anne Stakes in what was voted the best male performance of Royal Ascot 2016 and resulted in him retiring with a Timeform rating of 126.
RACE RECORD
16 Starts 5-2-1 £894,666, €9,000. Champion 2YO Colt in Europe in 2014. Champion 2YO Colt in GB in 2014. Won Newmarket Dewhurst S., Gr.1, Newbury Lockinge S., Gr.1, Doncaster Doncaster Mile, L, Newbury Washington Singer S., L, Yarmouth Haven Seashore at Great Yarmouth 2YO Maiden S., 2nd Ascot Queen Elizabeth II S., Gr.1, Royal Ascot Queen Anne S., Gr.1, 3rd Newmarket Challenge S., Gr.2, 4th Curragh Irish Two Thousand Guineas, Gr.1, Doncaster Champagne S., Gr.2, Newmarket July S., Gr.2, Sandown Mile S., Gr.2.
