Eclair Surprise completed a winning double for Western Australian bred horses at Flemington’s Melbourne Cup meeting on Tuesday.

Eclair Surprise (5g Blackfriars – French Scene by Scenic) angled off the fence in the final furlong to claim a narrow victory in the LR Diamond Jubilee Plate (1800m).  He reeled in Grey Assignment (Refuse To Bend (IRE) ) and Tribal Rock (Rock of Gibraltar) to score in a three-way finish.

Sunspeed bred mare Kasane (Helenus) had won the TAB Trophy (1700m) earlier in the day.

Trainer Phillip Stokes was confident Eclair Surprise would rise to the occasion.  “The key was producing him late and Dom (Tourneur) knows him really well,” Stokes said.  “The horse is going great and hopefully he can develop into a reliable stayer.”

Eclair Surprise travelled to Flemington on the back of a Listed victory in the Murray Bridge Cup.  Originally trained by Peter Moody in Melbourne, the gelding had been restricted by injuries after winning the Listed UCI Stakes (1800m) at Flemington in October 2010.

A $65,000 buy at the 2009 Perth Magic Millions, he is by Scenic Lodge sire Blackfriars who has won the last two Sunspeed titles.  His dam French Scene is a daughter of G2 Winterbottom Stakes winner French Sound (Ksar).

Blackfriars (Danehill) stands at Scenic Lodge for a $16,500 (inc gst) service fee.

– Karl Patterson

ECLAIR SURPRISE
Blackfriars gelding (red blinkers) swoops at Flemington