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The Age
September 28, 2007 WITH the shuttle stallions released from quarantine in both Victoria and NSW over the past couple of weeks, the breeding industry has returned to as close to normal as it will be this season. But with equine influenza still running rampant, the season is nothing like normal. Horses in NSW cannot make the journey to Victoria and while mares can travel north of the Murray River to be served, there is no guarantee as to when they can come back. For Eliza Park at Kerrie, near Romsey, it has meant several changes to the stallion line-up. Originally, nine stallions, including three who shuttled in from the northern hemisphere, were due to stand this season and were caught up in quarantine. Because he had quarantined in Victoria, Black Hawk was able to head straight to work after being released, the only loss for him being those mares ready to be served in the first three weeks of the season, who were switched to other Eliza Park stallions. But Danbird and Mujahid, who had quarantined in NSW, were left in no-man's land. Rather than stand shortened seasons in Australia and with their potential earnings greater in the northern hemisphere, many of the shuttle horses have headed straight home again. In consultation with his owner, Shadwell Stud, it was decided to return Mujahid to Europe to prepare for the coming season, but this was not such an attractive option for Danbird with him being owned in Australia. With no hope of getting him to Eliza Park, the decision was made to stand the horse in NSW this year. He has taken up residence at former Arrowfield general manager Peter Keating and wife Susan's Liverpool Farm at Murrurundi, at the top of the Hunter Valley. Danbird, a group 2 winner as a two-year-old and a brother to Golden Slipper winner and successful sire Catbird, had been well supported in his first two years at stud and was set to serve about 80 mares this season. Eliza Park general manager Shane McGrath is hopeful he will prove an attractive option for breeders with mares in the Hunter. "Many of the shuttle horses who were to stand at a service fee similar to him are now not available, so I think that, as a speed son of Danehill, he is in quite a good position to attract mares, given that he can't come to Victoria," McGrath said. With many mares who otherwise would have headed to NSW stallions now staying in Victoria to be served, Eliza Park's two highest-profile sires, God's Own and Bel Esprit, will serve big books. McGrath says they have proven attractive options and he is particularly happy with Bel Esprit's book. "He had a great first season and his three-year-olds are really going on with it. He will serve a big book and has some really serious mares coming to him," he said. McGrath is also bullish about Bel Esprit's crop of two-year-olds this season and expects some smart types to be among them. "I think his second crop were a much more precocious-looking group than his first and I would be very surprised if he doesn't have a better two-year-old this season than last year," he said. Despite the fact that the stallions will receive mares that otherwise would have gone interstate, the travel restrictions mean they will miss out on mares coming the other way. God's Own has been deprived of many mares controlled by his former owners, Bart Cummings and Dato Tan Chin Nam. "We had about 40 shareholder mares coming down from NSW for him and it makes you a bit nervous when you suddenly lose that number of mares," McGrath said. "But in the end, he will still serve a big book."
Dato Tan Chin Nam’s Think Big Stud at Burradoo on the Southern Highlands was the scene of a new arrival at the weekend when prize mare Success Tale delivered a half-sister to Wonderful World by Caulfield Guineas winner God’s Own. “She’s a big strong filly with good bone evident even at this early age and has a small star as her only white marking,” said Duncan Ramage of DGR Thoroughbreds. The filly is a half-sister to Dato Tan Chin Nam’s Caulfield Guineas winner Wonderful World, who is engaged to run in the Group One MVRC Manikato Stakes this Saturday and her sire God’s Own also won the Caulfield Guineas with Dato Tan Chin Nam as a part-owner. The pair were purchased by Bart Cummings and DGR Thoroughbreds, with God’s Own secured for $220,000 from the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale and Wonderful World for $170,000 at Magic Millions, both horses coming from the draft of Edinglassie Stud. Duncan Ramage was able to secure Success Tale, the dam of Wonderful World, privately before he raced and with God’s Own ready to embark on a stud career, the son of Redoute’s Choice was the logical choice as a partner. “Wonderful World is set to contest Saturday's Group One Manikato at Moonee Valley and the race named after Think Big Stud owner and Wonderful World part owner Dato Tan Chin Nam is also scheduled to be run on the same card and looks a great race to watch and enjoy,” added Ramage. Success Tale was booked to visit Rock of Gibraltar (IRE) this spring but like so many other broodmares around Australia, her breeding plans are now up in the air. - TARA MADGWICK
September 8, 2007
August 23, 2007
Promising Victorian second-crop sire Bel Esprit got his spring off to the best possible start last Saturday with a two-state metro double. The action began before noon, with the first race on the monster 11-event program at Caulfield falling to Bel Esprit’s stakes-winning daughter Gabbidon by a convincing 11/4 lengths. Gabbidon, who became the first blacktype winner for Bel Esprit when she won The Jansz-G3 (1200m) at Morphettville in May, had caught the eye with her firstup unplaced run behind fellow Bel Esprit filly Bel Mer in the Quezette-LR (1100m) at the previous Caulfield meeting. That first-up effort suggested Gabbidon would relish some extra distance and, stepped up to 1400m last Saturday, she didn’t disappoint. Not long after, the second event on the big Morphettville program in Adelaide went the way of three-year-old Bel Esprit gelding Snip Esprit, who romped home by 31/4 lengths at the generous SP of $15. Those odds seemed particularly liberal given that Snip Esprit was having his first run as a three-year-old, having placed at all three juvenile starts last February and March, all in Adelaide city company, which included a debut photo-finish third at Cheltenham and a second to the highly rated David Hayes-trained Redoute’s Choice colt Daaloob. With two individual stakes winners already this season, the Eliza Park-based Bel Esprit will be looking to improve on his eighth place in the fi rst-crop premiership for 2006/07 when honours are decided for two-crop sires in 2007/08. He achieved his eighth placing (second to Swettenham’s Dash For Cash among Victorian-based sires) with 25 runners for nine winners, with Gabbidon his stakes winner, and $268,268 in earnings. As a Group 1-winning two-year-old himself, he is expected to put his foot on the gas when his second crop of two-year-olds hit the tracks this year. With 121 live foals in that crop (up from 94 in his first crop), his 2007/08 juveniles should keep him in the headlines when the babies’ races begin. In another encouraging sign, studbook records show that 18 of his new-season two-year-olds already have names. Certainly Bel Esprit got a vote of confidence from his home-state buyers at this year’s Melbourne Premier yearling sale, where 15 of his 17 lots offered sold for an average $53,218, roughly three times his service fee at the time, with a two lots fetching $100,000 apiece. One of those was a filly out of In A Teacup (by Mystery Storm), bought by Slade Bloodstock, and the other a colt from Alannon mare Amberlene, bought by Cranbourne trainer Nikki Burke. A colt from Off Balance fetched $95,000 while Slade’s parted with $80,000 for a colt from Dance The Music, the same price fetched by the filly from Taipan Annie. And the news should only get better next season, when his biggest crop so far (147 live foals) hit the racetracks. All up Bel Esprit currently has 11 individual winners from 28 starters and another eight placegetters. The latter group includes the stakesplaced Belcentra, second to subsequent Group 1 winner Camarilla in the Blue Diamond Prelude-G3 for fillies at the second of only three juvenile starts for Lee Freedman. —
CRAIG WHITE BEL CHIMES IN Young Victorian sire Bel Esprit snaffled winner number 10 – and stakes winner number two — with a gutsy performance by Bel Mer in the MRC Australian Defence Force Quezette Stakes-LR at Caulfield last Saturday. Taken to an early lead by jockey Craig Newitt, Bel Mer had built up a huge break by the time they turned for home (reminiscent of her sire) and held on gamely from some determined and classy challengers. In what was unquestionably the finest line-up of fillies assembled so far this season, the beaten brigade included Golden Slipper winner Forensics, Blue Diamond winner Sleek Chassis, group winners Chinchilla Rose, Rose Ceremony and Gabbidon (also by Bel Esprit) and Queen Adelaide Stakes-LR winner El Daana. The Mick Price-trained Bel Mer has shown ability since day one and had previously registered a third on debut at Moonee Valley (in April) before resuming with a classy second — beaten a half length by Royal Asscher — over 1000m at Caulfield on August 4. “She (Bel Mer) is nominated for all the good races and she’ll go that way — she has to now,” an enthusiastic Price said post-race. Bel Mer’s three outings have yielded $81,100, with her broodmare value increasing considerably courtesy of the black-type victory. The bay has therefore proved a wise investment for the group of owners who purchased her from Eliza Park’s Gold Coast Magic Millions draft last year for $110,000. A full brother to Bel Mer was snapped up by Slade Bloodstock at this year’s Gold Coast Magic Millions for $130,000, while Bel Mer’s dam, Drop Anchor, has a yearling filly by Danbird and is due to foal another Bel Esprit during the next couple of weeks. Both Drop Anchor and Bel Mer’s granddam, Marine Park, won stakes races, while another relation is the late Group 1 sprinter and sire Clay Hero. Bel Esprit’s career at stud got off to an excellent start in 2006/07, when he was the top Victorian first-season sire by winners. Bel Esprit’s headliners include: Other useful offspring are Rich Forever, Bells All Round, Spirited Halo and Beau Esprit, beaten a nostril at Caulfield by Shrewd Rhythm, who notched his second stakes win in the Vain at Caulfield last Saturday. Meanwhile, Bel Esprit’s Eliza Park colleague Mujahid added to a substantial well of black type when his four-year-old Talshelka scored a resounding three-length victory in the Prix de la Nonette-G3 over 2000m at Deauville last Sunday. Bred by the Aga Khan, Tashelka had won a listed event at Vichy last month, joining Balius, Cheyenne Star, Lamargue and Musa Golosa among others as Mujahid stakes winners in Europe. In Australia, the son of Danzig has produced Danleigh, Paris Petard and Mind Your Head from limited numbers to keep the ball rolling on both sides of the equator. It was a big weekend for the shuttler, with his two-year-old Silhouette winning over 1000m in Italy and Kurtiniadis finishing a close-up second in a Group 2 in Turkey, before three-year-old colt Top Experience joined Talshelka to produce a Sunday double
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August 22, 2007 In a freakish coincidence budding Bel Esprit star Bel Mer won a race at Caulfield on Saturday named after a relation who was one of the fastest horses to come out of New Zealand in the 1960s. The event is the Quezette Stakes and it honours the performances of the1964 foaled filly of this name who won five races in succession in Melbourne at two, including the Merson Cooper Stakes in 1200m track record time at Sandown. Also placed at two in both the VRC and AJC Sires’ Produce Stakes and at three in the Wakeful Stakes, Sandown Guineas and Victoria Oaks, Quezette was by the good racehorse and sire Test Case and from Quorn Vale, an unplaced mare by Balloch carrying an inbreeding to the celebrated matriarch Cinna. Cinna is on bottom line in her pedigree and also in that of Show a Heart and Sunday Silence. Quorn Vale was a half-sister to the Marco Polo mare French Cameo, one who was unplaced in her only two starts but who had all her eight named foals win races. One of those foals was French Finale, a Bletchingly Sydney winner who produced Bel Mer’s grandam Marine Park, another flyer from the family. A daughter of the Vain champion Sir Dapper, Marine Park won eight sprint races, including the VRC Straight Six. Another brilliant horse from the family was MRC Oakleigh Plate winner and VRC Newmarket Handicap and Lightning Stakes placed Clay Hero. He is nearly a three-quarter brother to Marine Park, being by the Vain sire Proud Knight and from a sister to French Finale. Trained at Caulfield by Mick Price for a syndicate, including the Vinery Stud, Hunter Valley, Bel Mer is a bay filly who was bred at Lee Fleming’s prominent Eliza Park Stud, the home of Bel Esprit at Kerrie in Victoria, for Mrs A.A. Arnott of NSW and sold to a bid of a $110,000 from Melbourne based Belmont Bloodstock Agency at the Magic Millions Gold Coast yearling sale. Her Quezette win was only her third outing and followed on a third at Moonee Valley in April and a long neck second at Caulfield on August 4 One of four winners from the At Talaq Listed winner Drop Anchor, Bel Mer has only one inbreeding in five generations and this is a 3x4 to one of the most brilliant horses bred in Victoria, Vain. Besides being represented through his son Sir Dapper, he is the sire of Bespoken, the dam of Bel Esprit. Bespoken did not win in her three race appearances and is another example of the lottery of breeding. She has had six winners but only one of these, Bel Esprit, a super class Australian sprinter, has been successful on a metropolitan track. Bred by Hunter Valley engineer and stud owner Phil Gunter and one of the great bargains of Sydney yearling selling, being bought out of the Classic sale catalogue for only $9,000, this son of one of the most successful Nijinsky sires, Royal Academy, ran 19 times over two years and challenged as the best of his generation. Eight wins, all stakes, included the BTC Doomben 10,000, MRC Blue Diamond Stakes, Blue Diamond Prelude, Blue Diamond Preview and VRC Maribyrnong Plate, while four Group1 seconds were appearances in the VRC Newmarket, MRC Caulfield Guineas, MRC Invitation Stakes and MVRC Manikato Stakes. He was fifth when favourite in the 2002 Golden Slipper. Bel Esprit is now one of Australia’s most promising young sires. He was Victoria’s most successful sire of juveniles numerically for 2006-07 with nine first crop winners and his runners included Gabbidon (won the Group 3 SAJC National Stakes), Belcenta (second in the MRC Blue Diamond Prelude) and other Melbourne placegetters in Rich Forever (won Geelong), Beau Esprit (Werribee) and Diva la Belle (Mornington), also Bel Amore (two placings Adelaide), Thetoppie (placed Brisbane) and Bella Queen (Auckland).
About sixty of his first crop foals are yet to race and some of these could pave the way for a good year with his 3-year-olds. Overall he has a huge opportunity to become a very effective sire, his first four books in order being 122, 152, 210 and 162. He stands the 2007 season on $20,000.
Herald Sun - June 23, 2007 REGIONAL trainers, owners and breeders have a chance to grab a slice of the Eliza Park breeding action with a new country racing series. Eliza Park, part of the giant Fleming Group thoroughbred operation, has opened its doors to six stallions at its Kerrie Farm, near Mt Macedon, with the six-race Eliza Park Breeders' Bonus Series being run in conjunction with Country Racing Victoria. Starting at Cranbourne tomorrow, services to Black Hawk, Desert Sun, Clangalang, Mujahid, Danbird and new sire Written Tycoon, trained by John O'Shea, will be offered to the winning owners of races at Cranbourne, Seymour, Bendigo, Ballarat and Werribee over the next three months. Eliza Park manager Shane McGrath said the stallion service bonuses, valued at more than $40,000, were a show of support for Victorian racing while celebrating the acquisition of Written Tycoon. Highly rated as a two-year-old, Written Tycoon won the Group 2 Todman Stakes at Rosehill in 2005 and held his own against the likes of Magnus and Bentley Biscuit, who are campaigning in England. Magnus, bred at Eliza Park, ran a gallant third to Miss Andretti in Tuesday night's King's Stand Stakes at Ascot. "By Iglesia out of a Kenmare mare, Written Tycoon has super colonial sprinting pedigree," McGrath said. "He won the Todman, which is a real stallions' race and the response to him from breeders has been huge since we announced he would stand at Eliza Park this season." A service to Written Tycoon is the prize in the final series race on breeders' day at Seymour on August 12. It will be run in conjunction with the inaugural Victorian Country Thoroughbred Festival being held on August 11-12 at Seymour. "This is wonderful opportunity to highlight country racing in this state and also to add value to the prize pool of our fillies and mares," McGrath said. "It's a lucrative series and recognition of the support Eliza Park receives from breeders throughout the state." |