By Bloodhorse.com
PARIS, Ky. (Oct. 24, 2014) — Bel’s Starlet, a multiple stakes winner who finished third in the 1993 Gamely Handicap (gr. IT), died Oct. 23 at the age of 27 at Our Mims Retirement Haven near Paris, Ky., where she had lived since 2007.
The roan mare died of pleuroneumonia and endocarditis, the farm reported.
Bred by Mr. and Mrs. John C. Mabee and racing for Golden Eagle Farm and trainer Richard Mandella, Bel’s Starlet had 46 starts over six seasons while compiling a 13-14-6 mark with $863,802 in earnings. She was by Bel Bolide out of the Vigors mare Vigor’s Star.
In addition to her Gamely placing, she was second in the Oak Leaf Stakes (gr. I) as a 2-year-old.
When she retired from racing, Bel’s Starlet went back to the farm to take up her broodmare career. She produced six foals; Grey Owl, a 1998 colt by Kingmambo, earned $171,488 on the track. She also had foals by Forestry, Point Given , and Danzig.
The Mabees sold Bel for $500,000 at the 1999 Keeneland November sale. Sometime after her broodmare career ended, Bel’s Starlet found herself at the Kentucky Equine Humane Center. The center donated her the Haven, and the mare came to Paris on July 5, 2007.
“Bel’s Starlet was all class. She was as beautiful, kind and deeply loved by all of us. It was an honor to serve her,” said Jeanne Mirabito, farm owner and OMRH president.