Desert Sun has been retired from stud duties by Eliza Park.  The sire of Sunline has produced 445 winners of 1465 races in 17 different countries.

Desert Sun (Green Desert) has produced 31 stakes winners and, apart from the mighty mare, they include Our Egyptian Raine, La Bella Dama, Moralee, Lacey Underall, Great Is Great and Fernandina.

Desert Sun’s impact is likely to be felt for many years to come via his daughters who have already produced a half dozen stakes winners including the Bel Esprit filly Black Caviar who will gunning for her first G1 in the William Reid Stakes at Moonee Valley this Saturday.

“Desert Sun has been a truly remarkable sire and has gone a long way to putting Eliza Park on the map,” owner Lee Fleming said this week.  “Our initial aspirations were to conduct more of a boutique operation, but Desert Sun’s acquisition in the spring of 1999 really turned things around.

“When he arrived on farm from New Zealand, Sunline was a few months off winning her first Cox Plate, while La Bella Dama and Our Egyptian Raine were yet to reach Group 1 level.”

In recognition of Desert Sun’s vast achievements, Eliza Park is sponsoring the Sunline Suite at Moonee Valley for the next three years.