Bel Esprit at Eliza Park

Thoroughbred piece


A MORNING COVERING HORSES

WORDS PETER RYAN
PHOTOGRAPHS SEAN GARNSWORTHY
INTRO: The act of a stallion covering a mare underpins the racing industry. Even with the effect of equine influenza 15,500 new foals are expected from Australia’s 2007 breeding season. Conception must happen naturally, but it is too big a business to leave to chance. Old-fashioned horsemanship and advanced science is behind the conception. Hope, faith and a little guesswork sits behind the economy it creates. The moment stallion meets mare however remains a vigorous, primal act: a reminder that the magic of the thoroughbred industry is not confined to the track.

It’s just before 11am on December 19, sunset in the breeding season. At the well-worn gates of Eliza Park – Victoria’s leading stud farm near Kerrie, 40 minutes north-west of Melbourne, it’s quiet. A sign on the outside lists the quality of horseflesh in the undulating acres around: Bel Esprit, Black Hawk, God’s Own, Clangalang, Danbird, Delago Brom, Desert Sun, Mujahid and Written Tycoon. Magnus will be added to the list in 2008.

In 15 minutes, the 2002 Blue Diamond Stakes winner Bel Esprit (b h 1999, by Royal Academy – Bespoken by Vain) will make the short walk from the stallion stables to the breeding barn to mate with a seven-year-old mare, Tenets, a lightly raced chestnut by Canny Lad from Miss Believe (by Kaoru Star). Her blood is dominated by Star Kingdom (4x3).

The breeding barn is a square shed set to the right of the long, tree-lined driveway that leads to the office. Shane McGrath, the Irish-born general manager who arrived in Australia for six months 10 years ago, accompanies us there. When we enter the wide open doors, the mare is waiting with two handlers in the middle of a fenced section about the size of a large two-up ring. Dengari Lodge’s Garry Isaac, on the lookout for a quality mare, purchased her in 2007 for $35,000. He saw some photos, received a vet’s report to ensure the seven-year-old was sound from a breeding perspective and made the decision to buy. “I just liked her,” he said. This is her second visit to Bel Esprit and she has two unnamed colts by Over (b h 1996, Dr. Grace – Tromper by Lunchtime). The first of those Over colts was sold as a weanling at the Victorian June weanling sale to the bid of Commercial Bloodstock for $4000 in 2006. It was later resold as a yearling in 2007 at the Perth Magic Millions sale for $14,000 (bid of Phil Burton). The second colt, a chestnut, was reared in Western Australia and is an unnamed yearling.

Today, Tenets chestnut coat is sunburned more than shining, and half a dozen flies have found a resting place on her back. She is sturdy rather than striking, but appears comfortable and strong. Her tail is bandaged to keep it tight and taut for both convenience and hygiene reasons. She has been cleaned up behind. Any caslicks – stitches inserted after giving birth to foals – have been removed. She is wearing padded boots on the feet of her hind legs, standard protection to eliminate any damage that might come from a swift kick to the stallion’s important bits.

The days of quantity before quality are long gone. Science has taken over, and a stallion is expected to serve a “primed” mare only once in the spring. While Star Kingdom, in the 1960s, covered 75 mares in more than 200 matings during a season, the leading sires of today will serve 160 mares on 200 covers – and more than likely travel to the northern hemisphere a few months later to repeat the transaction.

It’s why a vet has inspected Tenets earlier to ensure she is ovulating. Covering can be dangerous and the parties involved are valuable. It takes place at the time when the likelihood of a positive outcome is at its highest. That’s now, today.

The breeding barn’s walls are corrugated iron with black padding rising to a height of about three metres in case the horses hit the walls as they move while mating. Two entrances you could drive a car through take up two sides of the barn, and the floor is covered with black gravel. It’s sparse. Apart from the standard stench a horse provides the room is relatively clear of smell. A big fan is built into another wall, for use in extreme heat, and the lights are on as light rain falling outside darkens the space. Lights are essential: mating takes place when the mare is right, and the stallion ready. Bel Esprit often covers mares in the evening or at 2am, when the specks of light from the breeding barn and the stallion shed make for a glow you can see for kilometres. Locked away in the foal pen in front of the mare is her recently born foal, a colt by Bel Esprit born from her 2006 spring mating. Foals are the mare’s security blanket. His presence is a calming influence to Tenets and an indicator to spectators that the mare has been here, done this before. It might, in this instance, explain her calm demeanour.

It can get cold out here, but that is not the reason the mare’s handlers are wearing protective suits. Urine and horse dung and sweat are all likely to fill the air inside the breeding shed. Relaxed directions fly quietly, when needed, between handlers. McGrath explains the process and underlines the stud farm’s approach: “Every covering is so important,” he says as his genial manner suddenly gets down to business. We are still adjusting to the ambience when a stallion enters the barn from a side door. It’s not Bel Esprit. It’s the teasing horse. His stable name is Habib. He’s impressive enough for a standardbred horse, but he is merely here to tease, to ensure the mare is ready. It’s a thankless task, one ripe for immature gags, but his role is important. He strides directly past the mare’s behind and walks towards her side, a whinny filling the room. His penis – as long as a dog walker’s flick stick – swings beneath him. He lifts his front legs over the mare’s side and she backs into him. The handlers, who keep a tight hold on both horses, know the mare is ready. Habib is dragged down with a subtle flick from Darren Mackereth, Eliza Park’s stallion manager and Bel Esprit’s handler. Knowing his work is done, Habib is led out of the barn, silently, without complaint and back to his stable.

The mood is relaxed. The mare is led back into the crush – a stall that opens to the covering area. She is placid. There is no sense of concern as her tail is lifted and the bandage is reapplied to ensure that when Bel Esprit arrives the horse is clean and ready.

The mare has two handlers. Chris Edmondson is a strong baby-faced lad from Yorkshire, England. He is polite, but all business. His colleague, Anton Presnell, is unshaven, a cheeky, relaxed grin springing out from under the cap that sits under his helmet. On a busy day 20 covers happen. The conversation between them is quick, their understanding of what has to be done obvious: “The tail or the front?” offers Presnell.

Edmonson chooses the front. He holds a twitch in his hand. The twitch is a piece of wood with the dimensions of a baseball bat with a loop on the end. He attaches it to Tenets’ nose to ensure she remains calm when the stallion enters the ring. There is no suggestion she won’t. As she is led back to the middle of the barn and Presnell locks the door behind him, Tenets remains unflustered. If she were a dinner guest, you’d describe her as good company rather than overbearing. When they reach the middle, Tenets stands in the centre like a statue.

The handlers wear helmets. Safety is paramount now in the racing business, and the wearing of helmets by handlers has become a standard rule at Eliza Park. Mackereth has to double back as he goes to collect Bel Esprit because he’s forgotten his helmet. “Ready boys,” he asks as he retrieves his helmet before heading to the stallion shed.

It’s a 30-metre walk from the stallion shed to the breeding barn. Since August 26 the prized stallion Bel Esprit has made the walk around 200 times. It’s a job worth getting out of his stall for: each service is worth $20,000. At the beginning of September it’s quick money, a whinnying, excited Bel Esprit can hardly wait to get over to the action, the former sprinter meeting the waiting mare at pace. By now, it’s more routine, but care still needs to be taken. He has had his usual 6am feed and, if time allows, a run in the paddock. McGrath says the secret to a successful breeding program is to keep the horse content. “The mental side is so important. It’s about continuity and keeping them happy,” he says. Mackereth is assigned Bel Esprit – a familiar presence keeps the stallion relaxed.

Bel Esprit enters. The bay horse has real presence. A physically powerful horse in his day, the experts in the barn say he has the build of a classic sprinter: massive hindquarters, muscles nearly bursting through the front shoulders, a short back that appears long underneath. He also has a masculine head with great width between the eyes – a stallion’s head is the way it’s described in younger horses, still to make the grade. He has a good nostril and jaw. The big jowl will get thicker as he gets older. “All power and muscle,” says McGrath. “His fertility is so strong.”

Bel Esprit approaches Tenets quietly, and sniffs her behind. Mackereth has the stallion under a tight hold. Edmonson stands in front of the mare, hands tight on the twitch, while Presnell is on the far side, ready to lift the mare’s tail when the action begins. Bel Esprit is sniffing, licking under the front of her leg. In a flash there is action as the stallion squeals and kicks with his front leg towards the mare. All the handlers move decisively, like referees in a boxing ring, using strength and judgement to be in the position they need to be, as quickly as possible. Again Bel Esprit goes quiet. Tenets drops the lip, her teeth chattering. Her face is like a ventriloquist’s puppet, bottom lip moving up and down. McGrath says it’s a sign she’s relaxed and enjoying it.

Bel Esprit keeps licking. About three minutes have elapsed since he arrived. There is no banter between the handlers. The stallion whinnys and arches his neck to its full extent. The veins in his neck are not visible but his muscle tone is. Bel Esprit shudders. Mackereth scratches his belly. After watching the stallion go through this process 200 times Mackereth knows how to get him moving. His touch is subtle, the only movement amon

g the handlers. The three men stand still but their eyes dance, alive to the prospect of movement. Bel Esprit decides it’s time and rips out a deep roar so loud and inspiring it creates a breeze within the barn. As a watcher you move, instinctively assuming a defensive pose like a cricketer fielding in close when bat hits ball. And that reaction comes with a fence separating you from the horses.

Bel Esprit launches his front legs forward in a violent jerk that jolts the handlers. They strain as they position him. Edmondson pulls on the twitch leaning forward with his weight towards the back of the mare helping Tenets to stand still. Mackereth helps to position the penis, while Presnell lifts Tenets’ tail and supports the stallion. Bel Esprit bites down on the mare’s mane. It’s a firm but not vicious grip, as much to placate the mare to his dominance as to brace himself into position to ensure he does not slide off. (All stallions are different. Some are quite vicious towards the mare and need to be muzzled). Bel Esprit weighs 630 kilograms and more than 16 hands in height. He towers above the mare and the men below. One man standing on another’s shoulders would just about be at the same height as the stallion’s head.





Bel Esprit fills the space, his muscles straining as he twists his neck down and thrusts forward, energy coming from the hind legs, his hooves arched from the ground as he enters the mare. In an instant it is over and Bel Esprit collapses his weight on the mare’s back, resting his head for a second before dropping his front legs to the ground. A quick wash of his penis with warm water ensures no gunk remains. Bel Esprit is led away.

Ten minutes later he is in his stall, sawdust on the feet and eating his feed – a mix of lucerne, chaff, oats and a balance of vitamins and nutrients – with gusto. His job is done. A six-month break in the paddock looms as the breeding season nears completion.

Tenets is checked within 36 hours to see if the follicle ovulated. A pregnancy scan – completed on January 2 – is positive. A second scan will occur on the January 16. Isaac is hopeful and positive: “Bel Esprit has been throwing strongly built, compact progeny. He’s a sprinting type and that is what the buyers look at. He’s just a nice horse.”

*****
When the deed is done, the only sounds heard around the stud are the hypnotic rhythm of hooves on gravel and a light breeze sweeping up and down the shallow valleys around. The intensity of the breeding act – one that contains the explosive uncertainty that makes great sport exhilarating – has passed. It has been like this for centuries now, since three stallions – the Darley Arabian, the Godolphin Barb and the Byerley Turk – were brought to Great Britain from the Middle East in the early 1700s to start the line. From the beginning it has been a search to improve the breed –matching stallions to mares for speed, to stay, to be a good juvenile or a late maturer, or to be a great jumper. Some will rise to extraordinary heights, others will remain unknown except as the butt of jokes from philosophical owners, a breed in itself, based on hope, a breed that lives with the knowledge that trying and dreaming has its own reward. In recent times in Australia it has been an industry experiencing extraordinary growth as many are taken by what they see on the track and want to be involved from the very start. It’s not an easy business: Bel Esprit and Tenets have just thrown another dice. Many, even those with without a direct interest, are watching how the dice turns.

Bel Esprit
Race Record

19 starts 8 wins, 4 seconds, 1 thirds (Earnings $2,073,600)

Major Wins
2002 Blue Diamond Stakes (Group 1)
2003 Doomben Ten Thousand (Group 1)
Stallion Record

Australia’s Leading 2YO sires (2006-07 Stakes Earnings)
No.1 Flying Spur No.36 Bel Esprit

Australia’s Leading 2YO sires (2006-07 Winners)
No.1 Fasliyev No.17 Bel Esprit

Australia’s Leading First Season Sires (2006-07 Stakes Earnings)
No.1 Choisir, No.8 Bel Esprit

Australia’s Leading First Season Sires (2006-07 Winners)
No.1 Choisir, No.8 Bel Esprit

Top 2007 Victorian Stallions by Service Fee
No.1 God’s Own $33,000 No.4 Bel Esprit $20,000

Top 2006 Victorian Sires by Coverings
No.1 Bianconi 175 coverings No.3 Bel Esprit 162 coverings

Biggest Sale Result
In 2006 a colt named Royal Esprit by Bel Esprit out of Floribunda (by Brief Truce) sold for $160,000 at the William Inglis Classic Yearling Sale.

Bel Esprit’s stakes winners:
Bel Mer (AUS) 2004 (from Drop Anchor by At Talaq)
2007 MRC Quezette Stakes (Listed)

Belcentra (AUS) 2004 (from Centra Rainbeam by Centaine) 2007 VRC Lexus Stakes (Listed)
Gabbidon (AUS) 2004 (from Eliza Park, by Scenic)
2007 MRC Thousand Guineas Prelude Group 3
2007 SAJC The Jansz Group 3

Number of Stallions in Australia
883

Number of Mares Covered
26875

Number of Shuttle Stallions
59

Foals born in Australia
In 2006 18,200 foals were born in Australia. The Australian Stud Book has predicted that the foal numbers may decline to 15,500 in 2007 due to Equine Influenza.


Source: Thoroughbred Breeders Australia Website (http://www.tbaus.com)