Today the brilliant colt smashed the class and race record, and finished just .11 of a second from Intelligent Star's track record.

"We could have smashed that," winning jockey Nash Rawiller said emphatically.

As expected the horse tipped to give Bel Esprit the most problems, the Sydney filly Before too Long, held the lead on the inside of the track, but the John Symons trained colt was always travelling well and when the Sydneysider felt the pinch the top of the straight the Melbourne colt pounced.

From that point the result was never in doubt as the favourite dashed clear to win by three and a half lengths, while Yell made up some late ground to grab Before too Long for the minor end of the prize.

Symons said the colt was on track for the Group One Manikato Stakes after today's sizzling win.

"He's really gone from strength to strength," Symons said. "He was much better this time around than last time."

"The plan is to go to the Manikato now," he added.

"Before today he'd never really struck a good track, and I've always thought he'd smash records on top of the ground."

The chances of Bel Esprit being extended to longer distances in the future were further enhanced after today's strong win.

"We'll be able to stretch him out a bit further today," Symons said. "We are aiming him toward the Caulfield Guineas after the Manikato."

Rawiller backed up Symons' assessment, saying the colt was nearly assured of running atleast 1400 metres.

He also said he was "probably" the best three-year-old he had ridden, obviously placing the colt higher than the classy Mayfield-Smith trained filly Innovation Girl.

Legendary AFL coach Kevin Sheedy, one of Bel Esprit's joyous owners, was in awe of his colt.

"He's something special, that's for sure," Sheedy said. "We've already had lots of thrills and it looks like there are still some more to come."

PICS - Quentin Lang.

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