A deal struck with Ballarat trainer Tony McEvoy has handed a trans-Tasman opportunity to stakes-winning mare Belle Plaisir (NZ) (Proisir).
The daughter of Proisir has been a star performer for Awapuni trainer Lucy Tanner, who also owns her in partnership with Lance Hickman.
She was bought for $32,000 from Book 2 of Karaka 2018 and has far exceeded that purchase price with four wins from 19 starts to date, headed by a last-start victory in the Listed Rangitikei Gold Cup (1600m) in May.
Belle Plaisir returned to action with a smart trial win at Foxton on Thursday, beating stakes performers Victorem and Wild Moose in an open 1000m heat, and Tanner revealed that Australia now awaits.
“She won her trial well yesterday, I was very happy with that,” she said. “
She’s coming up really nicely this preparation. She’s fully matured now and she seems to be a lot stronger this time in.
“On September 15, she’ll be on a plane to Melbourne to join the stable of Tony and Calvin McEvoy at Ballarat.
“Tony has been very interested in the mare, and in the end, he put in an offer to us that was too good to refuse. From the outset, we’d told him first and foremost that the mare was not for sale. That was the bottom line – we wanted to retain her ourselves for her breeding career.
“But he came back to us with a package that we’re more than happy with, and it’s going to be a good chance for her to race over there. If she could pick up any black type in Australia, it would really set her up as a broodmare.
“She’s got plenty of Australian-blood, being by Proisir out of a daughter of the speed sire Zeditave, so we’re hoping there’ll be a market for her progeny on both sides of the Tasman. As Tony has pointed out, the progeny of Proisir have been performing well both in New Zealand and in Australia.”
Provided Belle Plaisir settles in well at her new base, Tanner said her first Australian appearance could come within a couple of weeks of her touching down on Australian soil.
“The McEvoy team were very pleased with the trial yesterday, and everything seems to be on track with her so far,” she said.
“We’ll get her over there and they can take it from there, but they’ve mentioned that one possible starting point could be a mares’ race over 1400m on October 2 (Gr.2 Rose of Kingston Stakes at Flemington).”
