ALESPRIT – QUICKEST OF THE QUICKS

If you took the $1.40 about Alesprit in the CSR Monier Roofing 3YO Class 3 Plate over 900m at the Gold Coast on 28 November, your heart was probably well and truly in your mouth after she was slowly away.
You probably weren’t feeling much better when she was dropped back to last and couldn’t buy a run turning for home.
Finally there was daylight on the rail and the Bel Esprit filly went like the clappers to the line, scoring by a neck.
Out of the Rory’s Jester mare, Rory’s Babe and bred by Neville Stewart in Queensland, Alesprit has now won three of her six outings (including a second) and has yet to finish out of the money.
As Bel Esprit guru, Brian Donohoe points out, Bel Esprit has had a winner over 900m out of each of the first three crops: Gabbidon (1st crop) (on debut and Bel Esprit’s first winner); Bel Said (2nd crop) (also winning on debut) and Alesprit (3rd crop) has won two of her last three starts over this distance and her time of 49.8 at her last win is two seconds faster than Gabbidon ran.
At the Gold Coast Alesprit (below) ran the journey in 51.19 seconds: not bad given the tardy start.



By the way, the term ‘goes like the clappers’ gained prominence during World War II in reference to fighter pilots’ maneuvering skills. The clapper, as you can see from the accompanying diagram (no. 9), is the thingamajig (not the technical term) that rotates from side to side, with the phrase originating from the vigorous shaking of the school bell.