Lengthy spell for stakes-winning mare

Talented mare Capella won’t race again this season.

She is on an extended break after suffering an injury when a last-start fifth in the Gr.2 Rich Hill Mile at Ellerslie.

“It was a slight fetlock strain and we didn’t think it was worth pushing on with her,” trainer Danica Guy said.

“She’s going to have a long break, the first one she’s really ever had. It won’t do her any harm and we’ll get her back for the spring.”

Capella showed her quality last season with victory in the Gr.2 Eight Carat Classic and she also finished third in the Gr.2 Sir Tristram Fillies’ Classic and fourth in the Gr.1 New Zealand Derby.

She then crossed the Tasman and performed with credit when fifth in the Gr.1 Vinery Stud Stakes and seventh in the Gr.1 ATC Oaks.

Meanwhile, her stablemate Dreams Of Paris will be out to turn her luck around when she runs in the NZB Insurance Pearl Series Race at Avondale on Wednesday.

A runaway maiden winner three runs back, she was caught three wide without cover when unplaced last time out in the Gr.3 Desert Gold Stakes at Trentham, which resulted in a change of plans for the filly.

“We were pretty much stopped in our tracks after that – it was a tough run,” Guy said.

“We had been hoping to have gone to the Oaks Prelude at New Plymouth, but we had to back off her a bit after Wellington.

“She’s good now and working well and she’s a nice filly. We’ll assess things after Avondale and see where we go.”