Canterbury Belle was strong and powerful and she’d grind them into the dirt

Canterbury Belle was a high quality South Island filly that was brilliant during her three and four-year-old career, winning a number of black type features in the 1984/85 season. Bred and owned by CA and NG Wigley, "The Belle" out of Beaufort Sea by Callao Queen GB (by Sea Artist), turned out to be a cult mare back in the day, not just in the racing game but with the wider public throughout the entire Canterbury and South Island region. Nick and his wife Carol bred the bonny mare at their Inglewood Stud, one of New Zealand’s oldest thoroughbred stud’s that has been in the same family for the last 80 odd years, having been established by Nick Wigley’s grandfather, Ken Austin. She was trained for them by Dave Kerr and won 10 races in the parochial red and black colours of the Canterbury province. As a three-year-old she won six of her first seven starts including the Gr.1 1000 Guineas at Riccarton, then came back in the winter and beat the older horses in the Gr.1 Stradbroke Handicap in Brisbane. She went on to race until she was five adding another four wins and a further group one placing to her tally.

Her career started fairly unnoticed, debuting in a 1200m Maiden at Ashburton. Mind you, Canterbury Belle smashed them by five lengths so it was an impressive first up display. That was in September 1984, and by October the 3yo was ready to take on much better company. With Chris Johnson aboard, Belle took care of the assembled fillies, putting five and a half lengths on them in winning over 1400m at Greymouth. She then stretched out to the mile, victorious over Black Arrow in a North Canterbury event. By November she was ready to face the best three-year-olds in the south and duly won the Gr.1 NZ 1000 Guineas (1600m) convincingly defeating Avana by two lengths with Sobig two further back in third. A failure in the Bayer Classic at the end of the month saw the filly turned out until the Autumn.

In April of 1985, Canterbury Belle made a triumphant return to racing with a commanding five-length victory at Riccarton. Two weeks later she defeated Buffy Beaufort over 1600m in a Gr.3 at Riccarton before mounting a Queensland raid. The Belle arrived in Brisbane in May, with the primary objective being the Gr.1 Queensland Guineas over a distance of 1600 metres. Unfortunately she finished 2nd to Phoenix Rising by half a length with Grant Cooksley aboard and was runner up to Prince Frolic in the Channel 7 Stakes at Doomben over 2029m. Despite the setback, her primary goal remained the Elder's Handicap (now known as the Stradbroke), a 1400-metre race. In a remarkable display of athleticism and determination, Canterbury Belle, with her relatively light weight of 50 kilograms, outpaced her more seasoned equine competitors in a thrilling race. She crossed the finish line ahead of the renowned Kiwi champion, Kingdom Bay by a narrow margin of half a length in the time of 1:24.4.

Back home in the South, Canterbury, she underwent a long hiatus until late December. A second-place finish to In The Glen in a Group 3 race over 1600 metres at Timaru in the WFA Heritage Cup was a promising start to the campaign. In early January she won the WFA Gr.3 Gore Guineas at Southland before a victory over 1800m in a Fillies and Mares contest at Riccarton. A trip to Ellerslie in February 1986 saw "The Belle" run 5th to Bonecrusher in the Air New Zealand Stakes before a strong 2nd, defeated by Solveig in the WFA Thorndon Mile at Trentham. The mare then travelled back to Eagle Farm but failed quite badly in the Doncaster before a 5th in the All Aged Stakes. In New Zealand, Canterbury Belle made her comeback for her final campaign, placing third behind Orangeade at Riccarton and subsequently finishing fifth behind Tidal Light at Te Rapa. A win at Wingatui over the mile was her penultimate race before a 2nd at WFA back down at where it all began, Timaru in the South. Canterbury Belle raced against the best, and was victorious over some of the best in her short career.

RACE RECORD - 17: 9-2-1

EARNINGS - $444,923.00

G1 NZ 1000 Guineas

G1 Stradbroke Handicap

G3 Gore Guineas