BE WATER MY FRIEND MAKES A MOCKERY OF HIS ODDS

By Graham Potter | Saturday, September 24, 2022

It has always been a given in racing that certain horses will run better for certain jockeys and that there will also be certain trainers who will get the best out of certain horses.

When you combine all of those particular, positive factors and put them together, the chances are you will unwrap a success story.

A great example of that would be the story of Be Water My Friend.

It has already been well documented here that Be Water My Friend, a son of Headwater, did show great early promise … winning on debut and then going straight into the Listed Dalrello, in which he finished third …but, soom after that, he changed trainers twice without finding any further success … before it became third time lucky in terms of trainer changes when Be Water My Friend landed in the Matthew Park stable.

Park, who worked some magic of his own, had no hesitation in securing Mark Du Plessis to ride the gelding and the affinity mentioned previously between trainer and horse, jockey and horse, trainer and jockey almost immediately fell into place.

Four runs into Be My Water’s first preparation with Park, Be My Water had recorded two wins, a second and a third place.

In simple terms he had not put a foot wrong but, the racing world being what it is, small trainers seldom get the attention they sometime deserve … and so it was that Be Water My Friend arrived for his assignment in a BM75 Handicap over 1200m on Weetwood Day at Toowoomba as an unwanted $16 chance.

In the race, Du Plessis took Be Water My Friend back from the wide draw (barrier 11) and he settled second last, some eight lengths off the leader as the field travelled down the back straight.

Be Water My Friend gradually shifted out wider in the sweep to the home turn, where he ultimately straightened six wide, still with a little over six lengths to make up.

But, boy … how much does Be Water My Friend love a chase!

When he finally found a clear run down the centre of the straight, racing as the widest runner of all, Be Water My Friend proceeded to make a mockery of his starting price, storming past the eleven horses who were in front of him approaching the 200m mark, to hit the lead with 75m left to run with his momentum carrying him on to a stunning victory.

This 1200m win was Be Water My Friend’s first win beyond 1050m and the manner in wish it was achieved, bearing in mind the extra distance he covered with his wide passage … and the fact that he did it all under the steadying burden of 59kg … suggests that the distance test might not stop at 1200m!