GOD’S ANGEL

Very impressive performance by GOD’S OWN colt – Angelican – at Canterbury yesterday, passing his 1550m test with flying colours.
Bart Cummings certainly knows how to get the best out of God’s Own progeny (after all, he did train the sire to a Caulfield Guineas victory) and this bloke appears to have similar promise to stablemate and paternal sibling Swift Judgement.
As ANZ Bloodstock pointed out, Angelican “made no mistake here, travelling strongly all the way in the lead and then coming away in the straight, carrying topweight of 58 kilos and opposed by older horses”.
The daily went on to state: “Only lightly-raced, Angelican has improved at each of his four starts and he can win some more races this preparation based on his victory yesterday”.
Bred by Eliza Park and sold for $60,000 at the 2009 Gold Coast Magic Millions, Angelican is out of the Sir Tristram mare, Bektris, a sister to NZ Derby winner Popsy.
Interestingly, Angelican has a lovely three quarter brother – a first crop son of Shinzig – which is sales bound in 2011.

God's Own

BELECONI NOTCHES CITY WIN

The BEL ESPRIT train rolled through Adelaide yesterday with Beleconi posting a strong victory in the Clean SA Handicap (1525m) at Morphettville.
Under the guidance of Phillip Stokes, Beleconi has now put together three wins and a second from seven starts and the style of his win at Morphettville suggest there will be more city wins in store.
Beleconi is out of Diana Anceschi’s good mare Bocconi (by Snippets) and was sold at the 2008 Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale for $85,000.

SEQUEL HAS HAPPY ENDING

Fine performance by BEL ESPRIT sprinter, Happy Sequel, who led them throughout to score comfortably over 1107m at Kilmore on Tuesday (21 December).
Prepared at Eliza Park by Group One winning trainer, Sue Ellis, Happy Sequel was having only his third start, having finished a bold third on debut over 1112m at Kyneton in October.
Bred and owned by Dawn Giltinan and Robyn Murtagh, Happy Sequel is out of the Prego mare, Star Sequel, a daughter of Flemington stakes placed Astro Franco and hailing from the family of 3-time Group One winner Avedon.
And keep your eye out for the 2YO full sister – Bright Sequel – who has recently been broken in at Eliza Park by Sue and her team.
The Sequel may well have a Sequel!

Bel Esprit actually produced a sequel at Kilmore with his progeny winning the first with Happy Sequel and the last with another 4YO mare in Shiago.
Also only lightly raced, this was Shiago’s second win from four outings and her first run for five months.
She shook the rust off pretty quickly though and won comfortably. From the Bellotto mare Dark Eyed Lady and bred by Eliza Park and L Dalton, the mare is closely related to multiple 2YO stakes winner Dangerous Seam, dam of black type pair Seidnazar and Real Jester.

BELGIETTO – FOUR IN A ROW

Peter Gelagotis’ outstanding miler, Belgietto, is poised to become BEL ESPRIT’s 11th stakes winner following another brilliant performance at Flemington on Saturday (18 December).
The lightly raced 4YO is on fire and the victory at headquarters was his fourth in a row and second on the trot at Flemington.
Never far out of the money, Belgietto has now raced on 13 occasions for five wins and three placings … indeed, he’s only returned home twice without a cheque and two of his city placings figured prominently in stewards’ reports.
Although held up behind a wall of horses on Saturday, Belgietto got the split and proved too strong in the run home … he’s certainly game!
Out of the stakes winning Sackford mare, Adagietto, Belgietto is a half brother to four winners including the stakes placed Radio Song and is closely related to Moonee Valley stakes winner Captiva and Hong Kong Group One winner Packing Winner.
It’s beyond me as to why you would call a horse Adagietto – the musical term for ‘very slow’ – but it didn’t exactly put the breaks on her and has hardly had an impact on Belgietto!

Sold through Eliza Park’s 2008 Magic Millions Horses in Training draft at the Gold Coast, Belgietto is raced by a syndicate which includes ‘Boss Hogg’ (for all you Dukes of Hazzard fans) and Manny Gelagotis.
A long time client of Eliza Park, Manny played professional soccer (six years with the Gippsland Falcons) and is the owner of Michaels Golden Hen Moe Café and Silks Restaurant on George, plus runs the Moe Racing Club Turfside Bistro & Function Centre.
Manny also operates GW Racing Bloodstock, a boutique thoroughbred agency with a “selective clientele which allows me to focus on quality rather than quantity”.
It’s certainly working with Belgietto …

Belgietto scores at Flemington. Photo courtesy of Slickpix

GO THE ROO

Testimony to their tractability, a number of the BEL ESPRITs appear to have the ability to back up following a tough run, as shown by Belgietto who won at Flemington in successive weeks.
The popular La Bella Roo was unable to win her second on the trot when runnerup at Moonee Valley on Friday night (17 December) following her victory at Caulfield on Wednesday (yep, two days earlier!) but she was a moral beaten.
Missing the jump and hampered badly, La Bella Roo raced at the tail of the field to the turn and then couldn’t buy a run in the straight. Yet, once she saw daylight the mare flew and missed out by a nostril with Steve Richards’ Bel Esprit mare, Bel Shoes, a neck away third.
At Caulfield, La Bella Roo raced wide without cover, but managed to down Belle Diva over the 1100m, giving Bel Esprit yet another city quinella.
La Bella Roo – owned by a syndicate of Kangaroo Flat (near Bendigo) Bowling Club members – has always shown her share of ability although her previous victories had been at Bendigo (twice) and Echuca (twice).
Out of the 4-time winning Manntari mare, La Trio, was bred in Queensland by Dick Karreman.

La Bella Roo snatches victory at Caulfield. Photo courtesy of Slickpix

GOD’S PARTICLE WINS AT KRANJI

GOD’S OWN recorded his second ‘overseas’ winner with the gutsy victory of Higgs Boson at Singapore’s Kranji racecourse on Friday night (17 December).
Trained by expat Victorian John Meagher, Higgs Boson (below) dived through late to get the prize: “we think he’s more of a miler and that is what we want to get him up to eventually. The last 50 metres he finished it off very well,” stable spokesman Daniel Meagher told reporters.
Higgs Boson is out of the Colonial Affair mare Aly’s Affair, in turn a half sister to Kentucky Group winner Aly’s Alley.
Bred by American businessman, Lindsey Williams, Higgs Boson is a half brother to two winners including the Group placed Atlas Valley.
Aly’s Affair is now owned by long time God’s Own supporter Darryl Laity who will sell a full brother to Higgs Boson to the 2011 Adelaide Magic Millions.


Meanwhile, Higgs Boson is a well thought out name but, unless you’re familiar around terms like massless photons, electromagnetism and composite spin particles, it’s also a tad cerebral.
Me, I’m about as familiar with physics as I am with psychics so the fact that the Higgs Boson is a hypothetical massive scalar elementary particle predicted to exist by the Standard Model of particle physics means very little to moi.
Furthermore, we’re told that if the Higgs Boson exists, it is an integral and pervasive component of the material world.
Well, that clears it up some given that Madonna tells us we’re living in a material world, but in reality, still none the wiser as to what happens if an electromagnet crosses a photon without being two lengths clear.
However, it seems that the Higgs Boson is often referred to as the ‘God particle’, hence the nifty moniker for the four legged namesake.

PLENTY OF SPIRIT

There is an old saying that “you don’t have to be dead to be stiff” and Audacious Spirit certainly fills the latter bill.
A very speedy colt trained by Gillian Heinrich (and sold out of Eliza Park’s 2009 Melbourne Premier draft), Audacious Spirit (BEL ESPRIT) was twice stakes placed in Queensland in June – running a head second in the Dalrello Stakes-LR at Doomben.
Resuming with a 6.5 length trial win at Doomben in early November, Audacious Spirit then outran a classy bunch over 1200m at Eagle Farm to score his maiden victory.
Unfortunately, he had to sit out two subsequent meetings he was entered for due to the inclement weather and was absolutely primed for the Gold Edition Stakes-LR at Doomben on Saturday (18 December).
However, on the way to the barrier, Audacious Spirit cast a plate and, having problems refitting it, the colt was eventually scratched.
Ah, the many travails of racing!
Bred by Robert Harding, Audacious Spirit is out of the Zeditave mare, Roskeel, a half sister to Bel Esprit’s Group winning filly Vivacious Spirit.
Bad luck aside, Audacious Spirit appears to have what it takes and it shouldn’t be long before he joins his close relative with black type writ large.

BIG MONTH FOR BEL

Following the ‘excess’ of Black Caviar in November, BEL ESPRIT has firmed his position in the ranks of Australia’s Top 10 stallions with a raft of winners throughout December.

• Esprit de Bullet (ex. Beat the Bullet by Bite the Bullet): scored at the Valley on 3 December – 5th victory from 9 starts
• Royal Steal (ex. Coming Up Roses by Rubiton): 2nd win from 3 starts when successful at Darwin on 4 December
• Le Bel Away (ex. Let’s Fly Away by King of Kings): winner at 2nd start on 6 December
• Vain Saint (ex. Egrette by Bletchingly): win No. 2 on 7 December for the NSW speedster
• Belgietto (ex. Adagietto by Sackford): successive wins at Flemington in 7 days
• Vetwrap (ex. Lacrimosa by O’Reilly): victory on 11 December now brings tally to win and placing from 3 outings
• Mystical Bel (ex. Mysterieux by Snaadee): now has 2 wins from 4 starts following trip to Sunshine Coast on 12 December
• La Bella Roo (ex. La Trio by Manntari): won at Caulfield on 15 December then ran whisker 2nd at Moonee Valley two days later
• Liffeybel (ex. Rhythmic Halo by Don’t Say Halo): scored at Moe on 17 December (2nd win and 5th placing from 19 outings)
• Bel Shandy (ex. Mrs Bently by Euclase): Notched up second career victory on Sunday (19 December)

 Bring on 2011!

SALES WATCH: WEST HO!

You simply can’t beat good timing and the success of WA gallopers Talent Show and Manahara last Wednesday (15 December) augurs well for 2011 yearling sales.
Neville Parnham’s classy 3YO colt, Manahara got the ball rolling with a gutsy win – as favourite – over 1400m, while later in the program, the highly favoured Talent Show proved too good for rivals over 1500m – keeping her unbeaten record intact.
Manahara – who earlier won at Bunbury and was fourth in the Canonbury Stakes-LR on debut as a 2YO, is out of the Gulch mare, Tuscan Sky, whose Exceed And Excel filly will play an integral role in Eliza Park’s Gold Coast Magic Millions draft on 15 January (Lot 592).
A winner at two who has now produced three winners from three to race, Tuscan Sky is hails from an outstanding North American family which includes Chief’s Crown and Kentucky Derby winner Winning Colors.
Meanwhile, Talent Show was facing the starter for the fourth time at Ascot and is making a real name for herself in Perth with her blemish free record.
Out of the Melbourne Group winning mare Oregon Seal (by Oregon), Talent Show is a half sister to three winners (from as many to race) and was sold by Eliza Park to Damon Gabbedy’s Belmont Bloodstock Agency for $100,000 at the 2008 Melbourne Premier. Now, three years on, Eliza Park will be selling a Bel Esprit half brother at the 2011 Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale (Lot 168).
Given that both yearlings are by highly popular sires and out of mares that have produced winners with everything they’ve sent to the races, Eliza Park is bound to have plenty of visitors come sale time.

STATUE’S JUVENILE ANTICS

Despite gaining most of his renown down under via ‘mature’ sprinters such as Hay List and Mic Mac, STATUE OF LIBERTY is going gang busters in Europe this season with his 2YOs, including the French stakes winner Miss Liberty, plus recent winners such as Podgie’s Boy, Liberty Green and Uppercut Action.
Statue of Liberty was at it again on 12 December when Verrazano kicked a goal at Southwell in England, while later in the day, Red Roof (from the Night Shift mare Khyber Knight) added to her to sire’s substantial array of black type by running third in the Criterium di Pisa in Italy.

STATUE OF LIBERTY – GOING GLOBAL

Not surprisingly, STATUE OF LIBERTY hogs a lot of press via dynamic sprinters such Hay List and Mic Mac, the latter of whom will be chasing Group One glory in New Zealand this summer.
However, it’s not hard to see why the son of Storm Cat has such global appeal when you take into account his strike rate in the last 10 days.
Commencing the ‘roll’ with a double on 20 November through New Colossus (4YO gelding) at Mornington and Liberty Green (2YO filly) in England, Statue of Liberty followed up with Baggsy (3YO filly) in England on 21 November, Morna (3YO filly) in Italy on 22 November, a treble on 26 November – Ragazza Veloce (4YO mare) on the Sunshine Coast, Serva Padrona (3YO filly) in France and Podgie’s Boy (2YO colt) in England, a stakes win on 27 November with Golden Star (a previous Group One winner in Macau), a double on 28 November with Call For Liberty (5YO gelding) in Germany and Uppercut Action (2YO colt) in Sweden and, on Wednesday (1 December) another double with Liberty Trail (4YO gelding) and Custard Cream Kid (4YO gelding) in England.

ELIZA PARK ON THOROUGHBREDS

Eliza Park's Mark Lindsay was recently interviewed by TVN's Caroline Searcy for its popular Thoroughbreds show.

FLEMING BUSINESS

Tyreel Stud has been a powerhouse of Australian breeding for decades and Dean Fleming, son of founder Jim and brother to Eliza Park principal Lee, is carrying on the tradition. Recently, Sportsman’s Shayne ‘Arjuna’ O’Cass profiled the stud.

Australia is quite rightly blowing its trumpet with two major winners in Asia in consecutive weeks, namely Risky Business in Singapore and Rocket Man in Hong Kong last Sunday.
The man in the spotlight playing solo among the fanfare is none other than Dean Fleming, who bred both horses.
A son of the late Jim Fleming, Dean and his brother Lee have been highly successful breeders in their own right for years.
Dean is a boutique breeder par excellence, while Lee is at the helm of Eliza Park Stud in Victoria – home to 11 stallions, including Black Caviar’s sire, Bel Esprit.
”We’ve been doing quite well in Singapore now for the last four or five years, not only with Rocket Man and Risky Business, but Lim’s Fighter too won a Group One up there not long back,” Dean said.
”On top of that there are a number of other horses that are winning nice races, so we’re very happy.” The Flemings, particularly family patriarch Jim via his Tyreel Stud operation, opened up new avenues for the export of Australian horses while it was still a relatively new concept.
”A lot of our horses early on did go to Japan and Hong Kong and Singapore and they have performed very, very well up there,” says Dean.
”A long time ago we had Mr Vitality, we bred him, and he was a champion in Hong Kong.
”We also had Gaburin in Japan, who won a number of stakes races, and now we have Rocket Man, Risky Business and Lim’s Fighter, so we have got a pretty good track record up in Asia, which is fantastic.” Tyreel Stud has been the leading vendor by average at the prestigious Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale for several years.
Their chances of another crown in 2011 rest on a superlative draft which boasts five yearlings by Redoute’s Choice and one each by More Than Ready and Flying Spur.
Among Tyreel’s consignment is a handsome Flying Spur colt out of former dual Group One winner Republic Lass and the first foal (a Redoute’s Choice colt) out of the multiple Group One performer Just Dancing.
”We have always put every effort into breeding the best horses and no stone is left unturned,” Dean said.
”We are continually trying to improve what we do every year to see if we can make them better and that’s what we are supposed to be doing – we are supposed to be growing horses that can race.
”We’ve got a nice draft and we’re looking forward to the sale.”

TYREEL STUD HONOUR ROLL

• Bint Marscay
• Rocket Man
• Our Giant
• Prima Nova
• Filante
• Republic Lass
• Stella Cadente
• King Of Danes
• Kenny’s Best Pal
• Hidden Dragon
• Danehill Express
• Just Dancing
• Sky Watch
• Rose O’War
• Tahni Girl
• Lim’s Fighter
• Risky Business (below)