Bell is a | Coady Photography
Via Bill Finley
After Bell’s the One (Majesticperfect) failed to meet its $2.6 million reserve at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale, owner Bob Lothenbach decided to keep the 6-year-old mare and will breed her, her coach, Neil Pessin said.
“More likely, the plan was to send her to the barn,” says Pessin. “We don’t know who we’re going to breed her with yet. It hasn’t been determined yet, but we should decide that within the next two or three weeks. Bob is a breeder and has about 40 mares. He raised a lot of Minnesota hybrids. She won’t be one of them. “
Bell’s the One was sent to Collier Mathes’ Chesapeake ranch to begin preparations for her next career.
While he will miss Bell’s The One in his stable, Pessin said that with Lothenbach keeping her, he will still have a connection to the mare.
“I think we’ll be right in that neighborhood,” Pessin said when asked if he thought she would meet her substitute. “No matter what, I will be happy and sad at the same time. I will be full of emotions no matter what happens. This way, I can visit her at the farm and meet the baby. “
Pessin said the plan was for Lothenbach to keep his ponies and race them. Pessin will be the coach.
“I will train whatever she has,” he said. “Hopefully she is as good a mother as a racehorse. Hopefully, we’ll get one that takes us to the Derby. You can also set high goals. “
Pessin said he would not consider running Bell’s The One next year.
“We decided at the beginning of the year that this would be her last year,” Pessin said. “We were hoping to get into the Breeders’ Cup but that didn’t work out. We decided that with her about to turn seven that she did all we asked of her. She missed a race in five years that I pointed to. I told Bob she couldn’t do more for us.”
A talented and persistent sprinter, Bell’s the One made 27 starts, won 13 races, 11 of which bet and earned $2,000,675. Her biggest win was at GI Derby City Distaff S. In 2020 she also won GII Raven Run S., GII Thoroughbred Club of America S. and GII Honorable Miss H.
“You can’t replace a horse like that,” says Pessin. “You hope to get one that can be just as good, but you never replace one like this.
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This story was posted in Top News and tagged Bell is a, Breeders ‘Cup, Chesapeake Farm, Collier Mathes, Lothenbach’s barn, Missing testicles, Neil Pessin.
