Bel Esprit 7/9/2008

A new role in the hay: stud earns a lazy $5m
Tom ReillySeptember 7, 2008
THE small brick barn tucked away in the rolling hills near Romsey seems an unlikely place to make the big bucks in horseracing this spring. The wood shavings on the floor and corrugated iron roof seem a million miles from the glamour of Flemington's Cup carnival.
But this is where Bel Esprit, a champion on the track and now a champion in the breeding shed, gets down to business. And what a business it is.
Last year he set an Australian record when he covered 264 mares, and when the breeding season began last Monday he wasted no time in trying to better that mark.
His first cover was at 6am. Strutting out of his stable he looks half horse, half bull as he readies himself for the job ahead. A bay without a fleck of white, his deep mahogany coat gleams like a well-oiled pair of riding boots.
Awaiting the champ is Let's Rock Again, a mare who was no slouch on the track herself.
Trained by Gai Waterhouse, her career peaked when she won the prestigious Reisling Stakes as a $41 roughie.
Standing patiently with thick padded boots on her hind feet, she seems poised despite the indignities of being scrubbed and sanitised for her man. With seven foals already, she knows what's coming next.
Before Bel Esprit, though, comes Habib, the teaser. He's like the king's food taster who never gets to sample the banquet.
"His job is to make sure the mare is receptive and won't lash out when it's time for the real stallion," explains Brent Grayling, stallion manager at Eliza Park stud.
It's a task Habib takes to with the delight of a teenage boy. Within seconds of entering the barn his front legs are straddling Let's Rock Again and he's frantically thrusting away. It doesn't seem to bother him that he's actually poking the underside of her belly and is at least a metre away from where he should be.
For the well-schooled stallion team it's indication enough that the 12-year-old mare is ready for the real deal. Habib is dragged off the mare and led away. If a horse could shrug, he would.
For Bel Esprit there won't be such disappointment. For every mare he impregnates, his owners get $33,000 — a fee which makes him one of Victoria's most prized bloodstock commodities.
His record tally last year — more than $5 million, derived from a service fee of $20,000 — was more than twice his earnings from 19 starts on the track and more than the combined total stakes won by current champions Weekend Hussler and Light Fantastic.
Not a bad result for a bargain-basement horse that cost his original owners just $9000 as a yearling.
"The equine influenza crisis last year was terrible for most of the industry but good for Bel Esprit," says Grayling.
"You couldn't transport mares across state borders so lots of Victorian mares booked to stallions in NSW had to come to him instead.
"He enjoyed himself."
Unlike Habib, Bel Esprit takes his time. Perhaps he knows he won't be disturbed.
Starting at her left shoulder he slowly nuzzles his way along her back before performing a quick jig with his front feet. It's his signal for action.
He curves his body around Let's Rock Again and in no time he's finished what Habib never got to. Not quite the most expensive 30 seconds in sport, but close.