Black Trpe For Bel Mer.
At Caulfield on Saturday, Eliza Park's popular sire Bel Esprit, produced his second stakes winner, with a gutsy performance by Bel Mer in the MRC Listed Quezette Stakes (1100m).Prepared by Mick Price and ridden by Craig Newitt, she left barrier four best and ridden very aggressively she was taken straight to the front and set up a huge lead as they cornered. Upon straightening Bel Mer looked to have the race in her keeping, but she got very tired over the final 100m and she had the Blue Diamond winner chasing hard Sleek Chassis (Flying Spur - Tigereye by Kaapstad), however, Bel Mer lasted to score by a half-neck. Chinchilla Rose (Lion Hunter - Chiara by Last Tycoon) was another long head away in third.
Bel Mer had shown ability since her debut with placing's in the metropolitan area and she is the first stakes winner of the new season for Bel Esprit who recently grabbed the Leading Victorian First Season Sire title by winners and it appears the Champion son of Royal Academy is ready to carve a real niche at stud.
Many happy returns for flying Hussler
Tony BourkeNovember 4, 2007
AUSTRALIA'S latest star of the turf Weekend Hussler celebrated his third birthday with a win in the group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200 metres) at Flemington yesterday.Weekend Hussler was foaled on November 3, 2004, and this time next year he may be running in the Cox Plate and the Melbourne Cup.The gelding put up another stunning performance to notch his fifth successive win and next Saturday may back up against the older horses in the group 1 Emirates Stakes (1600 metres).Trainer Ross McDonald admitted he considered Weekend Hussler was more vulnerable in yesterday's race than in any other he had contested, but simply added: "He's the best horse I've ever trained."He said coming back from the 1600 metres of the Caulfield Guineas at his previous start was "a big ask" and he knew it was not going to be as easy as his odds of $1.65 suggested.Weekend Hussler was boxed up in the field for the first half of the race and jockey Brad Rawiller gave him a backhander with the whip to "click him into gear".Once into full stride, Weekend Hussler came away to beat Bel Mer ($21) by 2½ lengths with Scenic Blast ($11), who had chased him home in the Caulfield Guineas and tried to go with him yesterday when he sprinted, a head away third.While the overall time of one minute and 8.95 seconds was good, Weekend Hussler's final sectional was sensational, running his last 400 metres in 22.4 seconds.
Newitt Swaps One Top Mare For Another.
Craig Newitt enjoyed an association with top mare Miss Andretti which took him round the world, enjoying Group 1 success at Royal Ascot as well as Flemington.Today Miss Andretti's racing career closed on a sad note, with her tailed off a long last in the Clamms Seafood Stakes at Listed level.But Newitt was at the other end of the field, landing first prize with the Mick Price trained Bel Mer, another classy mare which made it 3 stakes wins from 11 starts.Bel Mer has a special liking for Caulfield, with all of her wins at the track. She has a record of 4 Caulfield starts for 3 wins and a second.Bel Mer ($11-$10) got up by a head to beat the David Hayes trained Red Element ($7.00-$7.50-$5.00), which in turn only had a head to spare from Monet Rules ($12-$13-$11).While still starting favourite, Miss Andretti drifted alarmingly on course from an opening quote of $2.00 to start at $3.20.Price gave credit for the win to Newitt whose perfectly timed run from fifth place at the 400 metres produced a head victory over Red Element which shot clear early in the straight.Price reckons he needled Newitt into improving his judgement by comparing him adversely to Damien Oliver."I've spoken to him a few times about the timing of his horses and said he needed to watch D. Oliver ride a few and he has and full credit to him.""He absolutely gets 10 out of 10 for that ride."Price now has lofty plans for Bel Mer which are perhaps made easier with Miss Andretti off the scene."I reckon she's improved and I want to run her in the Manikato", he said."I said to the owners if we win or run second that's where we'll go."The $350,000 Group 1 Cleanevent Manikato Stakes will be run over 1200m at Moonee Valley on the 13th of September.
Bel Mer Wins, Miss Andretti Retired
Story By Alex Steedman
Saturday, 30 August 2008:
Bel Mer and Craig Newitt have teamed up to win the Listed Seafood Stakes at Caulfield today while champion sprinter Miss Andretti ran her last race.Resuming after a four month spell, the Mick Price trained mare jumped from an outside gate and was positioned in midfield on the outside of runners by jockey Craig Newitt.Bel Mer was given a clear run in the straight and then began to reel in the David Hayes trained leader Red Element.The Bel Esprit mare grabbed the lead with about 100m to go and went on to post her third career win by a head over Red Element in second.Monet Rules who also resumed today finished a close third.Today's winner Bel Mer will likely line up in a fortnight in the Group 1 Manikato Stakes on September 13 at Moonee Valley.“I said to the owners as a four-year-old she looks fantastic and if she runs first, second or runs a really good race we'll run in the Manikato so that's where we'll go,” Bel Mer's trainer Mick Price said.It was the eighth time Craig Newitt had ridden Bel Mer and has only finished unplaced on her on one occasion behind Apache Cat in the Group 1 Lightning Stakes (1000m) at Flemington in February.“This mare has come along in leaps and bounds,” Newitt said. “Today I was really happy with her, the way she relaxed three deep with a bit of cover. She's got a really sharp turn of foot, it's only short but it's deadly.”While his association with Bel Mer continues to go from strength to strength, another regular ride of Newitt's in the form of Miss Andretti will be retired after her Seafood Stakes effort. “I'll never forget her,” Newitt said. “She took me all around the world and she'll definitely make a nice broodmare.”In her first start since a fourth in the Group 1 Robert Sangster Stakes in March when caught in inferior ground, the five time Group 1 winner at her best would have been a class above her rivals today.Miss Andretti's run in today's Seafood Stakes was her first amongst Listed company since her Straight Six Stakes win in May 2006. Regardless, she was a drifter in the ring, getting out to as much as $3.20 after she opened as an odds-on favourite.
Third Stakes Win For Bel Mer
Story By Nathan Exelby
Saturday, 30 August 2008:
Australia's busiest stallion from last season, Bel Esprit, had his first black type winner for the new term when Bel Mer overcame a poor barrier to take the Listed Clamms Seafood Stakes at Caulfield today.Bel MerPhoto by Racing and SportsWith the EI lockdown, Victorian stallions had their busiest ever year in 2008 and none had more work to do than the G1 Blue Diamond and Doomben 10,000 winner. Bel Esprit worked his way through a massive book of 266 last year, joining fellow Victorian based stallions Elvstroem (222), Dash For Cash (221), Gonski (205) and God's Own (204) in the '200 club' last year.Fastnet Rock (257) was the only NSW based sire to reach 200, although Stratum, Encosta De Lago, Rock Of Gibraltar and Untouchable reached 190 or more. Bel Mer, a $110,000 graduate of the 2006 Magic Millions, was a dual stakes winner last year for Bel Esprit and she also ran second in the Group 1 Ascot Vale Stakes behind Weekend Hussler. She is one of three stakes winners for the stallion, joining fellow mares Belcentra and Gabbidon, who was a winner on this day last year. Bel Mer is one of four winners for the stakes winning At Talaq mare Drop Anchor. Today's race was marred by the poor performance of Horse of the Year Miss Andretti, who ran a long last.Trainer Lee Freedman said he could find nothing physically wrong with the mare, but his recommendation would be to now retire the five times Group 1 winner.
Stakes win for Bel Mer.
September 1st, 2008
Australia's busiest stallion from last season, Bel Esprit, had his first stakes winner of the new season when Bel Mer overcame a bad barrier draw to claim take the Listed Clamms Seafood Stakes (registered name: The Heath) at Caulfield on Saturday.Last spring, Victorian based stallions had their busiest year ever because of the EI lockdown and none had more work than the Group I Blue Diamond and Doomben 10,000 winner, Bel Esprit.Bel Esprit covered a massive book of 264 mares while another Victorian Elvstorem (Danehill) covered 222 mares as did Dash For Cash (Secret Savings) Other Victorian stallions to cover books of more than 200 were Gonski (Danehill) and God's Own (Redoute's Choice).The Heath heralded the return to the track for Horse of the Year 2006-07 Miss Andretti, it was probably her last race. Miss Andretti, ran last. Trained at Rye by Lee Freedman, who said, he could not find anything physically wrong with her, however, she has clearly lost her will to compete and he will recommend retirement for the five time Group 1 winner.Miss Andretti settled second in running for Dwayne Dunn she dropped right out in the straight, while Bel Mer was ridden back in the pack with plenty of cover and although she did it tough, Craig Newitt, produced her at the right time to let down well and get the better of Red Element (Red Ransom - Tracy's Element by Last Tycoon) to score by a head.Monet Rules (Commands - Paris Weekend by Gielgud) was the same margin away in third.Bel Mer is now bound for the Group One Manikato Stakes (1200m) at Moonee Valley on September 13th as are the runner-up and third placegetter. Bel Mer, a $110,000 graduate of the 2006 Magic Millions yearling sale, is a triple stakes winner for Bel Esprit, she is one of four winners for her stakes winning dam, Drop Anchor (by At Talaq).Drop Anchor is out of the Sir Dapper mare, Marine Park a winner of eight races including the Listed VRC Straight Six
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment