The Thoroughbred Magazine Club package offers the opportunity to enjoy the experience of being part of a club that will race* an outstanding, well-related filly by top young sire Bel Esprit. The filly will be raced on lease from her breeders, Eliza Park Stud.
Subscribers to The Thoroughbred magazine or those who take premium or platinum listing in The Directory Of Australian Racing will receive a membership of The Thoroughbred Magazine Club.
The 2YO filly, who is currently being broken in under the guidance of Sue Ellis at Eliza Park, will be trained by Robbie Griffiths at Cranbourne.
The filly is a sister to the promising Dreamy, a winner at her first race start (at Geelong, on June 5, 2008); her dam Song Of The Sun is a half-sister to the exceptional Group 1 winner Magnus and the classy 3YO colt Wilander.
Griffiths inspected the filly in August. "She's a beauty. She has all the ingredients you look for when selecting a young athlete for a racing future," he said.
The Bel Esprit-Song Of The Sun is bred to run. She comes from an illustrious family. Her dam Song Of The Sun, by Sunline's sire Desert Sun, was a smart race filly, winning at Bendigo and Morphettville (SA). Her career best performance was second in the Listed SAJC Morphettville Guineas behind Harley Ma, and she showed her versatility by finishing fifth behind Dowry in the 2005 Group 1 SA Oaks.
Song Of The Sun's dam, the Vain mare Song Of Norway, is the dam of outstanding mare Scandinavia, whose wins include the Group 2 QTC Cup (1200m) at Eagle Farm and the Group 3 Blue Diamond Prelude (1100m) at Caulfield, and she was placed at Group 1 level in the Newmarket Handicap, Lightning Stakes and Salinger Stakes, all down the straight at Flemington.
Scandinavia also is the dam of the outstanding Group 1 winner Magnus (2007 The Galaxy), who will stand his first season at stud at Eliza Park, Kerrie, at a fee Of $27,500 (inc. GST). Scandinavia's brilliant son Wilander (trained by Lee Freedman) is a winner of the 2008 Blue Diamond Prelude (1100m) at Caulfield. Song Of Norway also is the dam of the Stakes winners Frosty The Snowman, Midnight Sun and Russian Tea Room. This is the family of Bart Cummings's Victoria Derby placegetter Muirfield Village.
Members of The Thoroughbred Magazine Club will be notified of every moment of the filly's racing career; just as if they were paying the bills.
Benefits
Apart from racing this outstanding filly, The Thoroughbred Magazine Club also aims to give its members an insight into all aspects of this thoroughbred industry – from the joy of breeding a foal in the Hunter Valley to the chill of early spring track gallops at Flemington.
We want members of our club to have privileges that are not normally available to enthusiasts who may not have the wherewithal to own thoroughbreds, or reach places of privilege. It's an ambitious plan, and we hope to provide further benefits to the broader community, with part of the prizemoney (we hope) coming from the Bel Esprit's racing career to be donated to appropriate charities.
Join now, be part of racing a superbly bred racehorse, without the costs, but all the fun.
- Terms and conditions apply.
| OUR HORSE |  |
BEL ESPRIT |  |
Royal Academy (USA) |  |
Nijinsky |
| Crimson Saint | ||||||
| Bespoken | |
Vain | ||||
| Vin d'Amour (NZ) | ||||||
| SONG OF THE SUN | |
Desert Sun (GB) | |
Green Desert | ||
| Solar | ||||||
| Song of Norway | |
Vain | ||||
| Love Song (DEN) |
The Bel Esprit - Song Of The Sun filly will be raced by The Slattery Media Group, on behalf of the Thoroughbred Magazine Club. The filly, owned by Eliza Park Stud, and raced on lease, will be trained by Robbie Griffiths at Cranbourne. Members of the club, who must register by subscribing to The Thoroughbred magazine, will be informed of the filly's progress by email, or by accessing The Thoroughbred Magazine Club website. No other form of communication will be available. Members will not be required to pay any more than their subscription to The Thoroughbred magazine, and will remain part of The Thoroughbred Magazine Club via the renewal of their annual subscription.
The Thoroughbred Magazine Club is negotiating with race clubs, and major companies to provide further benefits to members, including race day privileges and activities. The Slattery Media Group will seek an appropriate charity to benefit from a percentage of any prizemoney that may be won by the Bel Esprit filly.
CEO Geoff Slattery said the initiative was part of the overall plan of making The Thoroughbred magazine a true representative of thoroughbred racing in Australia. "Those of us who have had the privilege of ownership of racehorses understand how involving, and exciting it can be. It's not something that one contributes to in any tangible way - you can't train, or ride, or groom, or shoe a racehorse - but the involvement via inside knowledge gives any owner a sense of belonging and anticipation. This is the sense we wish to bring to members of The Thoroughbred Magazine Club.
"We will provide regular communication to members, via email, and via our website. We want members to be involved. In this internet age, our members will be "virtual" owners."
Membership of the Thoroughbred Magazine Club is free when you subscribe to The Thoroughbred magazine for just $25, or upgrade your directory listing to Premium or Platinum.
You will receive regular updates on the career of our Bel Esprit - Song Of The Sun filly. As soon as she has been broken in, we will be offering members the opportunity to name the filly. If you think Bel Of The Sun is a good name, think again: we want something inventive and special.
The Thoroughbred Magazine Club will be seeking benefits for members in many areas. We will keep you updated regularly with new offers and new opportunities.
Membership of the Thoroughbred Magazine Club is free when you subscribe for 12 months to The Thoroughbred magazine for just $25.
The next edition of The Thoroughbred is due out in February 2010.
For 2010 subscriptions please phone (03) 9627 2600 or email info@thethoroughbred.com.au
The Thoroughbred Team
Robbie Griffiths, 49, was a more than handy jockey who rode 208 winners before increasing weight forced him to retire. He best winners were Marathon Star (Group 3 Bloodhorse Breeders Stakes at Moonee Valley) and Sound Gold (Tasmanian Oaks for Lee Freedman).
Griffiths' father John is a trainer and respected horse breaker, and his brother Rod was an outstanding Group 1 winning jockey until weight forced him out of the saddle.
Griffiths retired from riding in March 1990, then he worked as foreman for close friend Tony Vasil. They had thoughts of working as a partnership, but within a year they were struggling. 'It was either both of us starve or we split and go our own ways,' Griffiths said.
Griffiths took out his own trainer’s licence in 1991. He set up stables at Cranbourne and his first winner was Star View at Geelong on Boxing Day, 1991.
He regards his biggest thrill as a trainer when winning the Group 2 Saab Quality with Big Pat on Derby Day in 2003, then saddling up the horse to finish 10th in the Emirates Melbourne Cup three days later.
Stables: Cranbourne.
First winner: Star View, Geelong, December 26, 1991.
Group 1 wins (to August 1, 2008): Nil.
Bel Esprit was Victoria’s leading sire in the season 2005-06. This magnificent, powerful son of Royal Academy was the champion 2YO of his year, winning the 2002 Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield. He trained on at three to beat the older horses in the 2003 Group 1 Doomben 10,000 (1350m) at Doomben.
He stands at Eliza Park Stud, Kerrie, near Romsey, for a fee of $33,000 (inc. GST).
He finished his career with eight wins from 19 starts, and prizemoney of $2,073,600.
Statistics (as at 22 September 2008): 100 runners, 46 winners (46%), 4 stakes winners (4%). Sire of the winners of nearly $2.5m
BEST PROGENY:
GABBIDON (AUS), 2004, f (Scenic, Denizen).
4 wins, $230,390.
Won SAJC National S. Gr 3 (1200 m.), MRC Tranquil Star S. Gr 3 (1400 m).
BEL MER (AUS), 2004, f (At Talaq, Sir Dapper).
3 wins, $343,700.
Won MRC W J Adams S. L (1200 m.), Quezette S. L (1100 m.), The Heath 1100 L (1100 m).
BELCENTRA (AUS), 2004, f (Centaine, Khairpour).
3 wins, $219,200.
Won VRC Desirable S. L (1400 m).
VIVACIOUS SPIRIT (AUS), 2004, f (Snippets, Last Tycoon).
3 wins, $260,010.
Won, MRC How Now S. Gr 3 (1200m).
Eliza Park, a member of the Fleming Group, is a 100% Australian-owned thoroughbred stud farm and nursery.
Eliza Park’s principal, Lee Fleming is a third generation breeder and the eldest son of the late Jim Fleming, a highly successful businessman, prominent Australian breeder, administrator and owner of world-renowned Tyreel Stud.
With Eliza Park's three properties (comprising almost 800 hectares) and an office in Asia, the company employs 90 staff and offers a full range of thoroughbred services. Its aim is to take clients and friends from birth to the racetrack and Eliza Park looks to assist in every way to make clients’ bloodstock experience as enjoyable and profitable as possible.
The very centre – the hub – of an operation which now includes ‘satellites’ in Victoria’s north-east (Eliza Park, Nagambie), NSW (Eliza Park, Berrigan) and Singapore (Eliza Park, Singapore), Eliza Park Kerrie, (comprising nearly 400 hectares) is just 25 minutes from Melbourne airport and an hour from the CBD and Melbourne racetracks.
With facilities for 12 stallions, spelling paddocks, separate resident and visiting mare areas, a 1600-metre sand track, foaling down and yearling divisions, Kerrie also houses Eliza Park’s burgeoning racing operation, offering services to a growing number of trainers and owners utilising breaking-in and pre-training options.
CONTACT ELIZA PARK
Mt Eliza Road, Kerrie VIC 3434
(03) 5428 5168
http://www.elizapark.com.au
