The burgeoning racing career of Bellatrix Star is in jeopardy following an accident at Cranbourne last week.

The Fortuna Syndicate-raced mare fractured her neck following an incident when exiting the swimming pool and will undergo further veterinary examination to assess her racing future.  

“She had an accident as she was exiting the pool, she reared right over onto her back and fell heavily,” Fortuna director John Galvin told Racing.com.

“She was on the ground for 10 or 15 minutes, but she gradually got to her feet and was walked back to the box where she was examined by the vet and then X-rayed. She’s got fractures in her neck.

“The good news since is that she’s bright, she’s alert, she’s eating well and her vitals are good.

“Obviously, her autumn campaign that we had planned is out the window and it’s possible that she may never race again, but we don’t know that for sure at this stage.

“We’ve got a very good vet there, Matt Morahan, and I’ve spoken to our local Waikato vet, who was at the (Magic Millions) sales and, while it’s not a common injury, they’ve seen similar before.

“Whether she recovers well enough to be able to race again, we can’t be sure, but obviously, given her race record to date, she’s got a fair value as a broodmare prospect, so that would be plan b if she couldn’t race again.”

Bellatrix Star was purchased out of Phoenix Park’s 2023 New Zealand Bloodstock Book 1 Yearling Sale draft for $80,000 by Te Akau Racing principal David Ellis.

She won on debut for trainers Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson in New Zealand and went on to win the Gr.2 Eclipse Stakes (1200m) and finish runner-up in the Listed Counties Challenge Stakes (1100m) behind subsequent Group One winner Velocious.

The daughter of Star Witness was a revelation in the spring in Victoria, winning three consecutive races, including the Gr.2 Schillaci Stakes (1100m), Gr.3 Scarborough Stakes (1200m), and Listed Cap D’Antibes Stakes (1100m), before finishing runner-up to Switzerland in the Gr.1 Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m).