The Thoroughbred’s in-depth Perth preview reveals the chances in the Quaddie legs and all races at Belmont on Saturday.

The best bets are in races four, six and eight, and there is each-way value in the fifth.

To find out what our form analyst is tipping CLICK HERE

Sue Ellis, trainer and conditioner at Eliza Park, reports that Belleluia returned to pre-training on July 27.

Sue said that Belleluia has spelled extremely well and rising 3YO filly was ready to begin a spring campaign. Along with the other southern hemisphere thoroughbreds, Belleluia will turn three on August 1.

Trainer Robbie Griffiths said he hoped to give the filly another week or so while the fine winter weather was about, but a sudden turnabout in the weather forecast saw Ellis bring her into the stables. “I didn’t want her standing around trying to keep warm, she might as well be in the stables,” Griffiths said. “She has had a good break and according to Sue, she has filled out and grown, so I am looking forward to getting her back at Cranbourne in a month.”

Griffiths said everything was on track for Belleluia to be ready to race in November.

“She has had a very good education ground. This time in, we will really step up her work and she what she has got to offer. She has impressed us so far on a program designed to educate her, so I am looking forward to see the depth of her talent when I increase her workload this time in,” Griffiths said.

Meanwhile, Belleluia’s close relation Norwegian (gr c 2, Testa Rossa–Midnight Sun, by Desert Sun) continues to race consistently. He is nominated to run at Sandown next Wednesday in the Chortle SuperVobis Handicap (1600m).

The weather forecast for the next seven days is for a cold and wet period, so I have decided to return Belleluia to pre-training at Eliza Park on July 21. The filly, as reported last week, has spelled very well and she is ready to start work.

I expect her to be ready to race early in November, and I am planning on her having a good, long summer campaign.

Belleluia should be in pre-training under the guidance of Sue Ellis at Eliza Park for three to four weeks.

BITS & PIECES

THEY SAID IT

“I think we can improve him a bit more on that,” said Whittlesea trainer Peter Morgan of I Am Invincible, who won the Listed Sir John Monash Stakes (1100m) at Caulfield on Saturday despite missing the start by about a length. Morgan’s comment followed a warning that “they (the races) get better as the year gets going, though”.

Next target is the $100,000 Group 3 Bletchingly Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on August 1, followed by the $200,000 Group 3 McEwen Stakes (1000m) at Moonee Valley on September 12 and, “if everything’s going to plan”, the $500,000 Group 1 Manikato Stakes (1200m) at the Valley on Friday night, September 25.

Whether that improvement can take him overseas as owner Brett Gall was spruiking after the win remains to be seen, but there’s no doubt I Am Invincible (B h 4, Invincible Spirit (IRE)-Cannarelle, by Canny Lad) is quick and good.

Asked how much ground the slow start had cost, rider Darren Gauci answered indirectly but succinctly: “Well, after that happens they very rarely win.“ 

And they very rarely beat horses racing in the form Gran Sasso is – Brian Mayfield-Smith’s sprinter, coming off three wins, had a cosy run but just failed to run down I Am Invincible, who speared through from his middle gate to lead inside the first 100 metres.

Gauci rode I Am Invincible when beaten a length by Takeover Target in the Group 1 Goodwood (1200m) at Morphettville in May. “He did a good job last preparation when he ran second to Takeover Target,” Gauci said. “He’s come back just as good, I think.”

Gall has stud plans in mind for the impressive-looking son of Invincible Spirit, one of Europe’s hot stallions, hence the reason he is looking to add a northern hemisphere win to I Am Invincible’s CV – runs in the US, Kong Kong and England will be considered. Invincible Spirit (B h 1997, Green Desert (USA)-Rafha ((GB), by Kri (GB)) sired Fleeting Spirit, the Group 1 July Cup (1200m) winner at Newmarket this month (when Takeover Target broke down and the other Australian, Scenic Blast, flopped). He stood at Chatswood Stud in Victoria for four seasons up to 2006.

I Am Invincible was a $62,500 purchase at the 2006 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale. Like many other horses, he has blossomed under the care of Morgan. The trainer has a well-earned reputation for preparing problem horses, especially by using a water-walker. “We have managed his feet a bit and put a tongue tie on him, and it is all working,” he said of I Am Invincible, who was trained originally by Toby Edmonds in Sydney, where he won two from five. He is 5-11 now.

(Read Danny Power’s story on Peter Morgan, “The Fixer” in The Thoroughbred magazine’s 2009 summer edition).

“He weighs 464 kilos but 463 kilos of it is his ticker,” said Sunshine Coast trainer Jason McLachlan of Golden Slipper winner Phelan Ready (Br c 2, More Than Ready (USA)-Nancy Eleanor, by Blevic). The rising three-year-old will go to Sydney this week for a race on August 15 before running in the new Group 1, the Golden Rose (1400m) at Rosehill on August 29. After that it will be on to Melbourne with the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas (1600m) his target.

WE SAW IT

The latest chapter in the Leica story was played out at Caulfield, with Leica Larrikin (Br g 3, Nothin’ Leica Dane-Lady Peregrine, by Scrupules (IRE)) finishing midfield against his own age in the Slickpix Cup (2000m), and elder siblings Leica Falcon (7YO) and Leica Rose  (5YO) near the rear in the Griffiths Coffee Cup (1800m). The Falcon was fat, but is not the bright light of his “near glory days”, when fifth and fourth in the 2005 Caulfield and Melbourne Cups; the Rose is a country performer; and the Larrikin, with a 4.5kg weight rise, did not have the dash he showed in his win at Flemington on July 4. Still, he is the one to follow.

Gran Sasso (B g Dehere (USA)-Lady Soffel, by Rubiton) was a grand trier in not quite getting to I Am Invincible in the Monash, but more impressive was stablemate  At The Crease (B g 3, Catcher In The Rye (IRE)-Dynamite Lady, by Zeditave), winner of the Bensons Property Group Plate (1400m). Trainer Brian Mayfield-Smith said he would give the 3YO a short break before a brief spring campaign, and suggested the gelding would be worth following in the autumn. For those who can’t wait that long, Mayfield-Smith is back in form with winners at the past four Saturday city meetings, so stick with him.

WE’LL WATCH IT

The metropolitan premiership races have only three meetings to go in Melbourne and four in Sydney, and the Melbourne jockeys’ and trainers’ battles are the ones that will go to the wire – Craig Williams’ win on Benelli at Caulfield brought him level with Damien Oliver on 68; and Lee Freedman (64) remains one in front of David Hayes (63) after neither added to his tally. Top apprentices Nick Hall and Dean Holland also went home empty-handed – each has 32 wins. The battles resume at Sandown on Wednesday.

Gai Waterhouse (83.5) is holding off Peter Snowden (79) in the Sydney trainers’ race, and the interest left in the jockeys’ premiership is whether Hugh Bowman (96) can reach 100, having left Corey Brown (82) behind.

In Adelaide, Simon Price (44.5) and Chad Lever (44) are neck and neck for the jockeys’ premiership ahead of Matthew Nielson (41); David Hayes (44) is clear of Leon Macdonald (33.5) in the trainers’ race.

In Perth William Pike (86) and Neville Parnham (73) have their titles won. Shane Scriven (48) and Robbie Heathcote (46) will win in Brisbane. And in Tasmania, Brendan McCoull (85) is home, but Charlie Goggin (47) is being pressed by John Blacker (44).

The Australian Racing Hall of Fame has narrowed to four the field for its next legend spot, and will name the contenders tomorrow at Champions, the Australian Racing Museum in Melbourne. Scobie Breasley and Carbine are certain nominees, with T.J. Smith, George Moore and Tulloch as other chances, but only one will be raised alongside Phar Lap and Bart Cummings at the Hall of Fame dinner at the end of August. Our money is on Carbine.

Saturday’s Listed races will be at Morphettville (the Dermody Stakes, 1050m) and Belmont (the Beaufine Stakes, 1000m).

Other metro meetings are at: Moonee Valley, where the focus is on jumps racing with the $200,000 Hiskens Steeplechase (3700m) and the $100,000 Moonee Valley Hurdle (3700m); Randwick; and Doomben. Ascot (in the UK, not WA) has the Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2400m).

New Zealand father-son training combination, Murray and Bjorn Baker, are aiming to have three runners in the 2009 Emirates Melbourne Cup (3200m), at Flemington, on November 3.

The Cambridge-based Bakers are setting three sons of the leading sire of stayers, Montjeu (by Sadler’s Wells) for the Melbourne spring carnival – Nom Du Jeu, Harris Tweed and Mr Tipsy.

Baker said he might be in Melbourne sooner than later with Mr Tipsy (b g 2004, ex-Fairy Tipsy, by Casual Lies (USA)), a rising 5YO who finished third behind Ista Kareem in the Group 1 Sydney Cup (3200m) at Randwick in April.

“All three horses are qualified for the Cup, but Mr Tipsy might be too low on the weights to be guaranteed a start. We will need to find a handicap race for him to win to either get an exemption or a penalty,” Murray Baker said.

“I rang Greg Carpenter (chief handicapper for the RVL) and he said that because Mr Tipsy carried close to the limit (51.5kg on a 51kg limit) in the Sydney Cup, he doubts he will have him weighted high enough to be sure of getting a start.”

Weight-for-age for a 5YO gelding in the Melbourne Cup is 59.5kg, and usually horses of that age weighted on 51.5kg – 8kg less that weight-for-age – struggled to make the Cup field of 24.

“There are more quality handicap races for him in Melbourne than in New Zealand, so we will probably send him across first and leave the other two until later,” Baker said.

Baker said that a race like the Group 2 Winning Edge Stakes (2400m) at Caulfield on October 10 and the Group 3 Geelong Cup (2400m), run at Geelong on October 21, are the sort of handicap races that will suit the stout Mr Tipsy, a horse who has won six of his 13 starts, from 1580m to 2400m.

Nom Du Jeu and Harris Tweed are likely to follow a similar New Zealand-based program at weight-for-age to the one Nom Du Jeu took last year when he finished a fast-finishing second behind All The Good in the Group 1 Caulfield Cup (2400m) at Caulfield.

Nom Du Jeu (b h 2004, ex-Prized Lady (NZ), by Prized (USA)), winner of the 2008 Group 1 Australian Derby (2400m) at Randwick, ran in a trio of New Zealand weight-for-age races culminating in a third behind Princess Coup in the Group 1 Kelt Capital Stakes (wfa 2040m) at Hastings, on October 4, before crossing the Tasman for the Caulfield Cup, run two weeks later.

Nom Du Jeu (well fancied at $7.50) failed to reproduce his Caulfield Cup performance, finishing only eighth behind Viewed in the Melbourne Cup.

Harris Tweed (b c 2005, ex-Sally (NZ), by Prized (USA)), a lightly-framed colt, earned himself a tilt at the Melbourne carnival following some outstanding performances in Sydney in the autumn. Harris Tweed won the Group 2 Tulloch Stakes (2000m, Rosehill) before finishing second, beaten a head, behind Roman Emperor in the Australian Derby.

Harris Tweed is bred on similar lines (Montjeu from Prized mares) to Nom Du Jeu, and Baker said they a similarly lightly-framed, athletic individuals. He rates Harris Tweed as an emerging horse, although whether he is seasoned enough for a tough Melbourne Cup campaign will be decided from his form in lead-up races in New Zealand.

Baker said Nom Du Jeu had recovered well from the injury that halted his Sydney autumn campaign. “He suffered from a bruised cannon bone. He wasn’t lame, and it was only detected by a bone scan which we requested in an effort to find out why his form wasn’t reflecting how he looked and how well he was working,” Baker said.

Nom Du Jeu has been in work at Cambridge for six weeks, and although scans show there is still a “hot spot” where the injury flared in a hind leg, Baker said the veterinary advice was that the injury is improving and that he should continue Nom Du Jeu’s training.

The Thoroughbred’s in-depth Perth preview reveals the chances in the Quaddie legs and all races at Belmont on Saturday.

The best bet is an each-way chance in the first race, and there is  each-way value in races two and seven.

To find out what our form analyst is tipping CLICK HERE

The Thoroughbred Magazine Club’s filly Belleluia is thriving in her winter spell, according to trainer Robbie Griffiths.

“I have spoken to Sue Ellis at Eliza Park, who reports that the filly has done extremely well, and really enjoying this winter sunshine. Sue said Belleluia is tearing around her paddock,” Griffiths said.

“While I had planned to bring her into pre-training mid-July, while there is some nice sunshine about, and the filly is enjoying it, I will keep her out until the first week in August.”

Griffiths, who has had a wonderful season that has produced 87 winners, said that plans may change if the weather turns cold and wet.

“If she is standing around just trying to keep warm, then I have advised Sue to bring her into the pre-training stables at Eliza Park straight away.

“The slightly later start to her training won’t alter her spring programme, as I still plan to have her ready to race in November, after the Melbourne Cup carnival.”

Belleluia impressed Griffiths in her trials at Cranbourne in May. He is encouraged by the fact she is a very immature filly, who will benefit greatly from this spell and good spring training regime, during which time he expects to fully test her talents.

“She has done the education; we have given her time to mature; so now it is time increase the intensity of her work to she what she has got. I think she is a very promising filly,” he said.

Anyone wishing to know more about Robbie Griffiths and his training set-up, can do so by visiting his website griffithsracing.com.au.

Griffiths said he is still forming partnerships for his 2009 yearling purchases, and a full list of those horses and costs are outlined on the website or by contacting his office on (03) 5995 2444.

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The 2002 Melbourne Cup win on Media Puzzle, the greatest triumph that came on the heels of the biggest tragedy Damien Oliver’s life, remains an emotional scar for the champion jockey.

Almost seven years on, Oliver (37) struggled to hold back tears last night as he talked of the “toughest week I’ve ever had to deal with”  – the death of his brother Jason, also a jockey, after a track fall, and his tribute to Jason on winning the Cup a week later on Media Puzzle for Irish trainer Dermot Weld.

Interviewed by Bryan Martin as part of Tuesdays at Champions – talks at the Australian Racing Museum and Hall of Fame in Federation Square by key people in racing – Oliver twice had to compose himself before continuing his reminiscing about one of racing’s most poignant events.

Asked what he said to Jason when he blew a kiss to the heavens on passing the post, Oliver said: “We had a bit of a saying, we’d say to each other, ‘My boy’. That’s what I said.”

Applause from a most supportive audience eased the moment for the jockey and enabled Martin to change to a less emotive topic. Before then, Oliver told:

How he had considered Media Puzzle to be a strong chance in the Melbourne Cup after qualifying by winning the Geelong Cup;

How, while playing golf in Melbourne eight days before the Cup,  he had a phone call from a jockey friend to tell him Jason had fallen in a Perth trial and Damien should hurry to WA;

How the five hours getting there were “just awful”;

How it was “really sad seeing your brother in a bad way and you can’t do anything about it – you don’t even get  chance to say goodbye”;

And how, after talking with his family after Jason died, he decided to ride because if he had sat at home in Perth with them watching Media Puzzle win the Cup Jason would have said, “Bloody idiot, what are you doing here?” (Jason died at 33. Their jockey father, Ray, was killed in a race fall when Damien was only three.)

Oliver’s emotions and the support he had from family, friends and colleagues as he returned to ride on Derby day (on the Saturday before the Cup) and on Cup day, wearing Jason’s riding trousers, then went back to Perth for the funeral, are touchingly told in The Cup, a remarkable new book by American author Eric O’Keefe, who travelled to Australia and to Ireland to research what he calls the most thrilling, and moving, episode in thoroughbred racing history.

O’Keefe’s story of the tragedy and triumph of the 2002 Melbourne Cup is published by The Slattery Media Group. It will be on sale nationally in all good bookstores on August 1 (RRP $34.95). Orders can be placed online at slatterymedia.com/books.

Considering Australia’s devotion to Takeover Target over the past four years and the praise showered on Scenic Blast after his win in the Group 1 King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot last month, it would be remiss not to write of the disappointment that came from the early hours of the weekend at Newmarket.

The disappointment, intitially, was from Scenic’s Blast flop (as 6/4 favourite) in the Group 1 July Cup (1200m) at Newmarket on Friday when Takeover Target (a 10/1-16/1 drifter) appeared to run his usual honest race near the lead before finishing seventh to the fast and erratic English filly Fleeting Spirit, who had been second to Scenic Blast over 1000m in the King’s Stand.

The disappointment became much worse when Takeover Target (B g 9, Celtic Swing (GB)-Shady Stream, by Archregent (CAN)) was found to have broken down. Touch wood, disappointment won’t become despair – veterinarians operated on the gelding and inserted seven screws in a cracked off hind cannon bone, between the knee and the fetlock joints.

Owner, trainer and ‘mate’, Joe Janiak, seems convinced Australia’s favourite horse will recover, telling the Racing Post (www.racingpost.com) after the operation: “Thankfully, it’s all good news … he will be resting at the (veterinary) hospital for a couple of months.”

Winner of world racing hearts, as well as Australians’, and winner of 21 races from 41 starts, with eight Group 1s and more than $6 million, TT deserves to come home to a comfortable retirement at Coff’s Harbour, where Canberran Janiak has stables bought from the warrior’s winnings.

Before the injury, Janiak told Australian racing’s best magazine The Thoroughbred (spring edition out now – see thethoroughbred.com.au to subscribe) in ‘Ordinary Joe, extraordinary story’ that when retirement day came Takeover Target would “probably spend a little bit of time at Living Legends in the warmer weather down there (at the retirement home for champion horses near Melbourne airport), some time in promotion work, and then I’ll ride him myself” on the beach at Coffs Harbour. “He’ll have a good retirement.”

Whether Janiak can actually jump on when TT’s leg mends is moot, but the hope is that the equine part of one of the best stories in Australian racing since Phar Lap can at least potter around contentedly on the beach at Coffs.

With 500kg of muscle racing at 60kmh on four thin pins, sprinting can be a tough game. Hong Kong star Absolute Champion was put down after breaking a leg in the KrisFlyer in Singapore last year (TT won the race) and the runner-up in this year’s KrisFlyer, Singapore’s rising star Rocket Man, is sidelined with a stress fracture of the cannon bone on his offside foreleg.

That TT survived so long at the top, despite many minor leg problems and actually breaking down with a tendon tear when fourth in the Golden Jubilee Stakes (1200m) at Royal Ascot last year, is testament to Janiak’s care – they deserve to grow old together.

PS: Despite running up to his nickname (Clyde for Clydesdale) rather than his reputation, Scenic Blast (B/br g 4, Scenic (IRE)-Daughter’s Charm, by Delgado (USA)) has many more races to run. The planned next start in Japan later in the year – and the bid to pick up the $US1 million bonus for a horse that can win three Group 1s in three countries in the Global Sprint Challenge – remains intact.

THEY SAID IT

“He has been a fantastic horse and we have had some great adventures with him.” Janiak, on Takeover Target, in the Racing Post.

“Cox Plate? Yes, yes, I think she will go for it,” said trainer Hideyuki Takaoka after Jolie’s Shinju’s five-length all-the-way win in the Group 1 Singapore Derby (2000m) at Kranji on Sunday. Jolie’s Shinju (Br m 4, Jolie’s Halo (USA)-Endearing Quality (USA), by Danzig (USA), was ridden by Australian Ronnie Stewart in winning all legs of Singapore’s Four-Year-Old Challenge – the  Patrons’ Bowl (1400m) and the Singapore Derby Trial (1600m) were the lead-ups.

It is a big step up to the $3 million Group 1 Cox Plate (2040m) at Moonee Valley on October 24, but Jolie’s Shinju gives Singaporeans an international focus now Rocket Man is off the scene.

“I was surprised by the margin when I looked on the big screen and I pulled her up a bit because I didn’t want to break too many hearts,” said jockey Chris Symons after Britomart won at Sandown, her third city win on end.

Britomart (B m 5, Zabeel (NZ)-Marshow, by Marscay) is another example of a punting truism: back mares in form. Trainer Rick Hore-Lacy obviously thought so, suggesting the $5 starting price about an even-money chance was a steal.

“He’ll learn a lot from that,” said jockey Steven Pateman, after Geeorb ($3f), usually a tearaway, was held back behind the leader Spirit Of Alaton  to win the Macdonald Steeplechase (3900m) at Sandown on Saturday. Punters learned that Geeorb (B g 8, Encosta De Lago-Our Saratoga (NZ), by Sky Chase (NZ)), like many of young Warrnambool trainer Ciaron Maher’s team, will be hard to beat in whatever jumps races he contests. The valuable double of the Hiskens (3700m, Moonee Valley, July 25) and the Crisp (3900m, Sandown August 16) are on the agenda, and the Crisp might bring a clash with boom jumper, the unbeaten Mazzacano.

WE SAW IT

Victorian Vlad Duric rode four winners at Kranji on Sunday, including his first Group race in Singapore, the G3 Singapore 4YO Sprint (1200m) on Ntini (B g 4, Johannesburg (USA)-Delia, (by Geiger Counter (USA)).

Ntini, who won three of 11 in Australia when trained by Lee Freedman and who was Michael Freedman’s first Singapore winner last year, was the 32nd of this season for MF, putting him equal second with Rocket Man’s trainer Patrick Shaw behind New Zealander Laurie Laxon (50) – Freedman’s win rate is 19%, Laxon’s 13%, Shaw’s 12.5%. The season will finish on December 20.

Duric left Melbourne in April for a stint that was to end this month, but has been so successful that he has extended his stay for another 12 months. He has 25 wins (striking at 16%), seventh on the premiership behind local Jumaat Saimee (57), eight times Singapore’s top jockey,  and South African Robbie Fradd (39). 

A rider winning on the comeback trail, a track he has been down many times because of injury and run-ins with authority, is Stathi Katsidis – the Queenlander won Saturday’s Listed Toowomba Cup (2100m) on the new cushion (artificial) track on the $4 favourite Jussemi as the middle pin of a treble. Katsidis, 30, is back this time after a long drugs suspension – and a broken leg.

WE’LL WATCH IT

The battle to be Victoria’s top metro jock will be the focus for the season’s remaining five meetings, starting at the Melbourne Racing Club meeting at Sale on Wednesday. Damien Oliver went on a Bali break one win ahead of Williams; he returns, after missing two meetings, one behind – 67-66.  Williams has seven Sale rides, Oliver five as the fight gets underway in earnest. Oliver, the most successful rider of the past 20 years, is chasing his eighth title; Williams, winner of the past three, wants to make it four on end.

David Hayes gives Williams two rides (Pavarotti and Distant Harmony) from his six acceptors as he chases Lee Freedman for the trainers’ title – Hayes has 62 wins, Freeman 64. Freedman has no Sale starters.  Hayes has won the title eight times, Freedman six.

Apprentice Dean Holland outrode his claim (80 wins) with a double on Saturday, and is locked on 32 wins in the metro appentices race with Nick Hall. Ibrahim Gundogdu (27) and Brenton Avdulla (23) are next. Holland has six chances at Sale, Hall two.

Back in action at Sale is top senior rider Danny Nikolic, attempting to rebuild his Victorian client base as he settles back in Melbourne after an aborted stint in Mauritius – he was sent packing for “disrespect” after a run -in with a steward – that followed a couple of years in Sydney. Nikolic adds depth to the local line-up.

Sydney’s jockey and apprentice races are all over with seven meetings left – Hugh Bowman (92) is 11 clear of Corey Brown (81) and Daniel Ganderton (44) has an 18-win lead on Nathan Berry (26). Add Nathan’s twin Tommy (21 wins) to the Berry tally and it would be a race! The trainers’ race remains close – Gai Waterhouse (81.5) had two weekend wins to lead Peter Snowden (78), who had more runners but only one winner.

Saturday’s races include Listed events at Caulfield ($100,000 Sir John Monash, 1100m), Rosehill ($100,000 Winter Stakes, 1500m) and Eagle Farm ($75,000 Tattersall’s Mile, 1600m). They also race at Belmont and Morphettville.

Sale isn’t the only big out-of-town meeting on Wednesday. Grafton has the $130,000 Listed Ramornie Hanidcap (1200m) and follows up on Thursday with the $150,000 Listed Grafton Cup (2350m).

Belleluia’s sire Bel Esprit continues to make a name for himself as a sire.

The son of Royal Academy, who stands at Eliza Park, Kerrie, near Romsey, is poised to be named Victoria’s Leading Sire for the second season in succession. Of course, his season is highlighted by the brilliant wins of his star 2YO Black Caviar, a three-quarter sister to Belleluia.

One of the best sources of information on Bel Esprit is the wonderful Bel Esprit Winners Club, a blog that follows every runner and every story on this wonderful stallion.

The blog is the brainchild of Bel Esprit’s part-owner Brian Donohoe, who worked with Kevin Sheedy at the Essendon Football Club. It was Donohoe and RVL chairman Michael Duffy who encouraged Sheedy to take a share in Bel Esprit – and the rest is history.

Sheedy remains a shareholder and he has been breeding winners from his small broodmare band, including the recent dual city winner Bel Shoes and the aptly named Van Der Star, who won for the first time at Bairnsdale on Friday (July 10) at her 11th start.

On Saturday, at Sandown Lakeside, Belleluia’s trainer Robbie Griffiths will be trying to win the $70,000 Inglis Bonus 2YO (1200m) with Bel Esprit’s promising son Baltic Spirit, a recent debut winner at Bairnsdale.

Belleluia continues to do well while spelling at Eliza Park. We will have a full report on her progress next week.