Beau Geste Too Good

Resuming off 70 days proved no obstacle for Beau Geste (4 g Pour Moi - Villa Wanda, by Grand Lodge), with a dominant victory in the $10,000 Farmer Transport Rating 65 1650 metres on 18 July at Hastings.

A three-quarter brother to multiple Group One winning Wall Street (Montjeu), who had a great affinity on the course at Hastings, Beau Geste had broken through for a well deserved Maiden win over 2000 metres in March at New Plymouth, and given a chance to freshen-up by Te Akau trainer Jamie Richards worked the oracle.

Unpressured from the gates by rider Craig Grylls, Beau Geste settled comfortably three back on the inner and things unfolded nicely with a split one off the rail at the 300m. Up for the contest, he quickened through stylishly inside the 200m and pulled away under a hand ride to score by a neat length.  

On Slow8 footing, Beau Geste started as a loose third favourite and his best return on the NZ TAB was $10.00 & $2.90 fixed odds.

“I got a really big thrill out Beau Geste winning today,” Richards said. “He's a bread and butter sort of horse that had been over-racing with the blinkers on and had a couple of soundness problems in behind, but thankfully John (Galvin) allowed us to take our time with the horse. We'd sent him out to the beach to Catherine Cleghorn, who is a really important part of our team, and she was able to take him along quietly and give him a freshen-up.

“He returned to Matamata in very good order and he'd worked up pleasingly on the course proper. Gryllsy gave him a ten out of ten ride and it's been a massive effort by everyone involved. 

“He's also a pretty handy jumper, but we just use that as part of his training regime at this stage of his career.”

Te Akau principal David Ellis purchased Beau Geste for $32,500 from the draft of Valachi Downs at the 2016 New Zealand Bloodstock Premier Yearling Sale, and fashioning a solid record of two wins, two seconds, and a third, for the Fortuna Beau Geste Syndicate (Mgr: John Galvin).

“I knew Wall Street well and bought this horse from Valachi,” Ellis said. “It's terrific to see him win a couple because he wasn't far away in his first campaign and just needed a bit of physical maturity in order to start winning.”

On course to celebrate the victory, Galvin said the win was not unexpected. “School holidays and we decided to bring the kids away for a couple of days, so I've got the support crew with me and glad I was here,” he said.

“The win wasn't too surprising and I was reasonably confident that provided we could get the horse to relax then he would put in a good effort. Whether or not he would win, I wasn't one-hundred sure but Jamie (Richards) and I had worked out it was obvious he'd over-raced in his last two runs. 

“We took the blinkers off and the instructions to Craig (Grylls) were to focus on relaxing the horse and it didn't matter where he finished up. Get him to relax and run home strong. He got a perfect run, didn't cover an inch of extra ground, found a split as they turned and because he hadn't been used up he able to run home strongly.

“He's been a slow maturing type and is never going to be a world-beater, but he's got all the makings of a stayer and if we can continue on this path then the further he goes the better he will be. It's just a matter of placing him - he's dour and hasn't got a sprint, so he needs to be able to roll into the race, which is exactly what he did today.”

Reflecting on the Fortuna season with Te Akau, Galvin said: “The win brought our strike rate down to 3.31 for the season and we've got one more runner on Saturday at Te Rapa, Grand Ariana, and she will probably be our last. We've had a fantastic year.” 

Beau Geste was strapped by Alexis White. 

Photo credit - www.raceimages.co.nz

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