FAR FROM ELIZA DO LITTLE, VENTURE GETS BUSY WITH $3.5m SPREE

Eliza Park International has ended the year in a flurry with a $3.57 million spending spree on 14 broodmares at the December breeding stock sales of Tattersalls in England and Arqana in France.

The Hong Kong-backed breeding/racing venture featured as the third-biggest buyer at last week’s four-day Arqana December sale in Deauville, France, with a shopping list of eight mares bought at a cost of FF1.458m ($2.245m).

A week earlier, Eliza Park International made its debut at Tattersalls’ famed December sale at Newmarket, securing six lots for 702,000 guineas ($1.323m).

A majority of the 14 mares were in foal — Fastnet Rock and the European stars Galileo (below) and Oasis Dream were among the covering sires — and the plan was that they foal in Europe next year before shipment to Australia.

Hong Kong-based Sun Group International — with racing enthusiast Mr Cheng as its chairman and executive director — this year bought Eliza Park, a two-state operation in Victoria and Queensland.

It immediately set about building a bloodstock base through a $2.2m spend on weanlings, yearlings and broodmares at the Magic Millions National series on the Gold Coast in May-June.

The new venture later emerged as the buyer for a substantial seven-figure amount of the Group I Irish St Leger winner Voleuse de Coeurs, which ran in the colours of Eliza Park International in the Melbourne Cup last month.

Eliza Park’s representatives at Deauville last week were clearly on a mission, not taking a backward step in the rich spread of international competition, which led to what Arqana described as ‘‘renewed and massive demand’’.