by Wayne Currall
Millionaire pacer Beaudiene Boaz gets his chance to return to the winners’ list in Friday night’s $35,000 Winter Cup (2536m) at Gloucester Park. The Gary Hall-trained five-year-old Badlands Hanover entire has had four runs back since finishing sixth behind stablemate Chicago Bull in the Group 1 WA Pacing Cup (2936m) last January.
Beaudiene Boaz hasn’t saluted since late December last year, but he did finish a game third behind Smolda and Hectorjayjay in the Inter Dominion grand final (2936m) earlier in December and Hall has always had a high opinion of the horse. “You know I always thought (Beaudiene) Boaz was better than the Bull,” Hall said. “But somewhere along the line Chicago Bull has overtaken Boaz. I lost Boaz for a while there, but I think he’s starting to show some of his old ability. He was a little disappointing but then he finished third in the Inters final. And hey you can’t be too disappointed with a horse who has won more than a million dollars in prize money.”
Beaudiene Boaz was sent out as a $2.10 favourite at his last start, but was caught in a speed battle with mare Sheer Rocknroll in the early stages of the race. The lead time was run in a blistering 35.4 and driver Gary Hall Jr sent Beaudiene Boaz to the fence behind Sheer Rocknroll after his unsuccessful attempt to wrest the lead away from the mare but the damage had been already done with the early speed burn and the race was set up perfectly for the backmarkers with the mile rate for the 2130m journey being carved out in a slick 1:55.3. The Bucket List and Our Jimmy Johnstone were the beneficiaries of the hot early pace and finished all over the top of their rivals. Beaudiene Boaz boxed on gamely to finish third, some 8.7m behind The Bucket List.
He again takes on The Bucket List on Friday night, along with his stablemate Run Oneover. Beaudiene Boaz comes out of gate eight, while The Bucket List (6), Run Oneover (9), Bettors Reward (the pole) and Our Jericho (2) appear the main chances in the nine-horse field.
Junior will be looking to give Beaudiene Boaz a “softer” run in transit this week and that could be vital in assessing his chances. He can get home fast off a quick pace and will appreciate not being involved in any speed battles.
Run Oneover, a noted frontrunner, is expected to inject some speed into the race and this will suit Beaudiene Boaz. The two Hall runners, the Michael Brennan-trained The Bucket List, the Justin Prentice-trained and driven Bettors Reward and the Ross Olivieri-trained Our Jericho can all figure in the finish with the right run.
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