Major races: Wood Memorial Stakes (2005)

After retiring from racing, Bellamy Road stood at stud at Darley Stud in Lexington, Kentucky. He has sired numerous stakes winners and has become a successful breeding stallion. Some of his notable offspring include Diversify, Tobys Corner, Land Over Sea, and Constellation. Bellamy Road continued to stand at stud at Darley Stud until his death in 2018.

April 5 - Bellamy Road

I know that in our book, A Brush With Greatness, Ed Bowen's favorite owner's quote is from Jessica Steinbrenner regarding her later father, George Steinbrenner. She talks about that when she's feeling a little down, she will put on the tape of Bellamy Road winning the Wood Memorial and when she hears her father's name mentioned, she immediately feels better.

Selecting the right source photo for a painting is a gut instinct. As I tell clients, you just KNOW IT when you see it - the light, the action, the color - all come together for "IT". You know what you are looking for, but not pigeonholed into something preconceived, You look until you have that "AH HA! Found it" moment.

I went through a lot of photos of Bellamy Road, but this one has that "IT" quality and at the same time, some reservations as to the kissing of the whip by jockey Javier Castellano. A year or two after I did the painting of Bellamy Road, I was at Ocala Stud where his sire, Concerto, stood. Mike O'Farrell was talking about how difficult it had been to book mares to Concerto but then Bellamy Road won the Wood Memorial and "Before Javier could kiss the whip, the phone was ringing" to breed to Concerto. My instant reaction was - "YES! I knew that was 'IT'!"