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BEL ESPRIT REACHES THE TON Bel Esprit reached an important milestone with the victory of Baltic Spirit at Bairnsdale on Friday (26 June). We thought it was winner # 99 for Bel Esprit, but turns out it was 100 individual winners up for the Champion Victorian Sire. The one that slipped through to the keeper (aka Karl Patterson) was Hangang Ruby, a 3YO colt from the El Moxie mare Shirley’s Luvena, who won his only start at Busan in South Korea on 22 May 2009. Formerly owned by Paul Crawford’s Real Time Investments and sold for $55,000 at the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale in 2006, Shirley’s Luvena was exported to Korea and foaled down her Bel Esprit colt in the September. Related to Group One winner Showmeran, this is the family of Group One winning juvenile Fully Fledged and multiple Group One placed Rouquin, while the colt is also a close blood relation of Schillaci Stakes-G2 winner Patpong (by Royal Academy). ‘Eagle Eye’ Patterson – whose Thoroughbred Express now appears on the aapracing.com.au website – rarely misses a trick and his stats reveal that Bel Esprit has now had winners in every country that his progeny has competed: i.e. Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, Hong Kong AND Korea. Whichever way you look at it, it’s a remarkable tally for a stallion with only three crops of racing age. He is a shoo in to win successive Victorian sires’ titles (some $500k clear of Reset), he’s 17th on the national chart by winners, and second on the Australian Third Season Sires’ table by winners (second behind Choisir but with a superior strike rate). Below, courtesy of Karl Patterson, is the current tally of Bel Esprit winners STAKES WINNERS 1 BEL MER STAKES PLACED 7 Blue Sky (Aust & HK) WINNERS 9 Alesprit 20 Bel Said 30 Belolly 40 Diplomatic Strike 50 Esprit of Eve 60 Khairesprit 70 Pop Music 80 Seasonality 90 Stellesprit |