BEAU DAZZLER SHOWS HIS WORTH

By Graham Potter | Saturday, December 28, 2024

Beau Dazzler’s rollicking win in the Group 3 Grand Prix Stakes on December 14 might have only been his first win since he saluted in the Listed Phelan Ready in his second career a little over twelve months earlier, but it did reinforce the fact that the son of Ardrossan’s above average ability had just been simmering below the surface waiting to rise up and fulfill its potential.

Two weeks after his Grand Prix success, Beau Dazzler rammed that point home once again when taking out the QTIS Three-Year-Old Eagle Way on December 21, taking the step up from 1800m in the Grand Prix to the 2100m of the Eagle Way, seemingly without a care in the world.

Beau Dazzler had won the Group 3 Grand Prix on a Heavy 10 surface before adding a win in The Gateway on a Good 4 surface to his resume, opening up the options for Beau Dazzler in terms of future racing surface considerations and that second successive, impressive feature race victory in as many weeks meant that the Tony and Maddysen Sears stable could now confidently map out future plans for their rising star.

“He’s gone straight to the paddock. He’ll have a break now … and then we will get him ready for the (Queensland) Derby,” confirmed co-trainer Maddy Sears.
“He’ll do the typical lead-in to the Derby. He’ll go to the Queensland Guineas into the Rough Habit to the Derby.”

While the stable has settled on that route, they did have options aplenty to consider before making their decision.

“We did have a lot of conversations about taking him back to New Zealand for, obviously, the three-year-old race (the $1 million Karaka Three-Year-Old Classic) which is over a mile … but we think it is too short for him,” said Maddy Sears. (Beau Dazzler had previously made the trip to New Zealand to contest the Karaka Millions Two-Year-Old in his third career start).

“If he ran in that race, I could see him getting back in the race and running on to finish a brilliant third.

“Then we talked about possibly taking him over for the New Zealand Derby, but that doesn’t give us enough time to bring him back for our Derby where we can float him an hour and a half down the highway and be racing in a Group 1.”

Beau Dazzler’s four starts since resuming after a five-month break from racing have certainly proved the long-held belief by the stable that the more ground he gets, the better he will be.

The stable has allowed Beau Dazzler a natural distance progression over these four starts, going from a first-up call of 1400m to 1630m to 1800m to 2100m … and winning those last two assignments.

Another point of note there is that three of those four runs were on heavy going … including the win in the Group 3 Grand Prix in Beau Dazzler’s penultimate start … which had some pundits labelling Beau Dazzler as being a wet tracker, but then his latest win in the Eagle Way came on a good 4 racing surface where he was dominant, carrying 60kg … no less than 8kg more than the runner-up … to a 1.75 length victory.

Maddy Sears wasn’t having any of the wet-tracker theory.

“There is no denying that there was a lot of talk that Beau Dazzler is a wet tracker. We don’t see him as a wet tracker. His class just prevailed on a heavy surface,” said Maddy Sears.

“He is a very good horse … and always has been. Like we’ve said, it’s just been a matter of getting him out over the right distance.

“Both wins he went to the line with his ears pricked … like saying … aah, is that it? Is that all I’ve got to do?

“For him to do what he did in the Eagle Way, giving so much weight to the other horses in a muddling run race … I think the effort speaks volumes for his ability.”

Away from pure ability, Sears also pointed out that Beau Dazzler is quite a character.

“At the races he is a totally different horse to what he is at home,” explained Sears.

“He is a very different horse at home. He is very naughty, so I take my hat off to James who was strapping him. He does all the work on him.

“At home, Beau Dazzler will buck. He will shy. He will whip around … he’s a bit of a lad … and I don’t think there is any person other than James who will put their hand up to ride him at home.

“Honestly, he is a totally different horse at the track … and I think that is a trait of a good horse, one who knows what it means and when it matters on race-day, and then he focusses on what he has to do.”

Beau Dazzler, who was an $85 000 purchase at the 2023 NZB Karaka Sales, currently has banked $468 702 in prize-money and his record boasts three wins and two runner-up finishes from twelve starts.

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