Trainer Mat Ellerton believes Bel Chandon is a future black-type performer for Bel Esprit on the strength of her surprise win at Flemington.

“She’s not big but she’s got ability,” Ellerton said after the Phar Lap Club Plate (1100m).  “And the conditions suited her today.”

Bel Chandon (2f Bel Esprit – Super Swell by Danbird) went forward from a wide gate first-up at Terang last month before fading as the $3 favourite.  The barrier draw wasn’t as crucial down the straight course on Saturday and she relaxed in the second-half of the field before launching a finish that belied a $17 quote.

Bred in Victoria by David Schultz of Pinnacle Thoroughbreds, she is a three-quarter sister to Bel Esprit’s G1 Robert Sangster Stakes winner Bel Mer and sold through Three Bridges for $150,000 at the 2014 Gold Coast Magic Millions.

Three years earlier, Schultz bought her dam Super Swell off the track for $90,000 at the 2011 Inglis Melbourne August Sale and put her straight in foal to Bel Esprit.  The mare has a yearling filly by Bel Esprit and she’s back in foal to Victoria’s reigning champion sire on an early cover last September.