ELIZA PARK’S NATIONAL PRIDE

The National Service Stakes-LR at Caulfield yesterday could well be a portent for Eliza Park ‘sired’ speedsters, Bel Sprinter (Bel Esprit) and Utah Saints (God’s Own), who provided a 1-2 finish in the $100k scamper.
In a lineup which boasted a plethora of talent (13 of the other 14 runners had won 22 stakes races between them and eight with earnings in excess of $500,000), Bel Sprinter emerged as genuine talent, while Utah Saints franked earlier form with a gutsy second.
Stakes winner No. 13 for Bel Esprit, the unbeaten Bel Sprinter was a force of nature, racing away to score by three lengths and giving trainer Jason Warren plenty to think about in terms of the spring carnival.
Considering the dominance of his victory, an ambitious tilt at Group Ones would hardly be deemed a tilt at windmills.
The sole runner thus far for winning mare Gavroche, Bel Sprinter joins Vivacious Spirit as Bel Esprit stakes winners out of Snippets mares (Black Caviar’s dam, Helsinge, is also out of a Snippets mare in Scandinavia).
Bred by Glen Bailey, Bel Sprinter’s dam, Gavroche, hails from the family of Alleged’s Underwood Stakes-G1 winner Always Aloof (also a Group winner in France) and was covered again last season by Bel Esprit.
Meanwhile, Utah Saints’ fighting second garnered plenty of fans for the God’s Own first cropper.
Having won convincingly at Flemington on New Year’s Day, Utah Saints produced three placings at Caulfield before being tipped out at the end of March.
The Mathew Ellerton/Simon Zahra trained bay has clearly matured into a fine athlete and the training pair have high hopes that he’ll add some more black type this spring.
Bel Esprit will stand this season at a fee of $27,500 while stablemate God’s Own – who stands at Eliza Park in conjunction with Yallambee Stud – stands for $13,750.