It was like old times when Statue Of Liberty caught up with Bel Esprit in sunny Queensland after an absence of three years.

Both stallions will be housed in adjoining boxes, but hardly together, that would be carrying it a bit too far.

However, there could be arguments between them if the matter of the best horse each had sired was raised.

It would hardly be an argument really, Black Caviar by a wide margin, aided by Bel Esprit, he would see to that, while Statue Of Liberty would be gunning for Hay List.

It is quite ironical that both stallions stood at the same stud while the best of their progeny were competing for supremacy on the race track.

Bel Esprit joined Sun Stud as a sire in 2003 after his two Group 1 wins in the Blue Diamond Stakes and the Doomben 10,000.

He had brilliant speed, obviously inherited through his grandsire, Vain, who had an impeccable pedigree with scintillating speed, as if he was fired from a sling shot.

Bel Esprit has had his knockers for some unaccountable reason, he has been overlooked at times, he has had winners in excess of $56 million and a champion ex Victorian sire for eight consecutive seasons.

Bel Esprit

Statue Of Liberty has had much more travel experience than Bel Esprit, he is American bred and has stood as a sire first in England, Ireland, Japan and finally Australia.

His stint in Japan didn’t work out as planned, in fact it was a disaster when an outbreak of Equine Influenza(EI) in August 2007, grounding a lot of horses from travelling, and one just happened to be Statue Of Liberty, he was bailed up for two years.

It was almost a life sentence, two years is a hug slice out of a sire’s working life; it is very difficult to recover from such a setback.

Statue Of Liberty is a lovely black with a lot of quality about him; he should prove popular with mare owners, he is at an affordable fee for a horse that has progeny earnings to his credit of $52 million, with 59 per cent winners to runners.

Statue Of Liberty