Ken Casellas | Photo: Hamilton Content Creators
Blythewood trainer Kristy Elson remains eternally grateful to her father Gary, who gave her a virtually unwanted yearling three years ago.
She named the Victorian-bred colt Jaspervellabeach, who boosted his earnings to $196,818 when he gave a tough and impressive performance to win the Garrard’s Horse And Hound Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
This was Jaspervellabeach’s twelfth win from 42 starts in an exciting career during which he has overcome the disability and discomfort of a club foot on his nearside foreleg.
He has proved to be a wonderful bargain, with Gary Elson paying just $12,000 for the son of American stallion Somebeachsomewhere at the 2018 Melbourne yearling sale. “I was told that the Aldebaran Lodge wanted $20,000 for him, and I started bidding for him at $10,000,” he said. “I went to $12,000, and then there were no more bids for him, and I expected that he would be passed in. But he was knocked down to me.”
The club foot doesn’t worry Jaspervellabeach too much, but the disability requires constant treatment, including the gelding being shod every two weeks.
Four-year-old Jasperbellabeach is out of the unraced Falcon Seelster mare Aldebaran Bromac, a half-sister to Jackaroo Bromac, who was retired after his 154 starts produced 27 wins and 43 placings for earnings of $242,555.
Jaspervellabeach is the second pacer Gary Elson has given his 39-year-old Tasmanian-born daughter as a gift. The first present was Ideal Tyson, an American Ideal pacer who was purchased as a yearling in Victoria for $24,000 and won 22 races in WA, including eight wins from his first nine starts as a two-year-old in 2015, before being sold in September 2018 to America where he won another five races.
On Friday night Jaspervellabeach was the $1.90 favourite from barrier No. 7, and he gave outstanding 20-year-old driver Emily Suvaljko the second leg of a treble (her second Friday night treble at headquarters) in the space of 60 minutes.
Jaspervellabeach enjoyed a drop in class, and Suvaljko drove him with great confidence, dashing him forward in the early stages and then rating him in the breeze with the $3.70 second fancy Whoswhointhezoo setting a solid pace. Jaspervellabeach forged to the front 270m from home and went on to win by just under a length from $5 chance Alta Rhett, who had enjoyed an ideal passage, following the winner all the way.
Jaspervellabeach, who won at four of his first six starts as a two-year-old, including the group 2 Champagne Classic in race record time and the group 1 Golden Slipper, looks set for further victories.