19 October 2017 | Ken Casellas
Promising filly Beaudiene Beach Babe has suffered no ill-effects from being severely checked and breaking into a fierce gallop in a race at Wagin last Saturday night and Boyanup trainer-reinsman Justin Prentice is confident she will bounce back and fight out the finish of the AMF Ceiling Tiles Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Beaudiene Beach Babe will start from barrier five in the 2130m event restricted to three-year-old fillies. She is one of three Prentice-trained runners in the race, with Our Major Mama to be driven by Tom Buchanan from barrier four and Somersby to be handled by Gary Hall Jnr from the No. 6 barrier.
Beaudiene Beach Babe was favourite at 7/4 on when she reappeared after an absence of six months in a 2180m event at Wagin on Saturday night. She did not handle the track at all well, but after being well back in the field, some 15 lengths behind the runaway pacemaker Reacher in the middle stages, she looked a strong winning chance when she forged forward in the back straight in the final circuit.
She was in third place on the pegs, following Speed Man when that pacer broke in front of her with about 350m to travel. She galloped badly and finished seventh in a field of seven, 99 metres behind the winner, Reacher.
“She was going roughly and didn’t handle the Wagin track at all,” Prentice said. “She’s still green and is still learning. I think she will be a nice filly, but will probably take a bit of time to learn what it is all about.
“She was going to run first or second at Wagin until she got knocked over. I didn’t realise how tight the bends are at Wagin and she didn’t handle them that well. Hopefully, she handles Gloucester Park better. She was fine at her only other race start, at Gloucester Park early last April (when she raced in the breeze and finished fourth behind Ella Gant Player. She’s also fine at home.”
Prentice said that Our Major Mama was capable of a strong first-up showing. “She is working well and seems to be a bit stronger this time than she was when she had five starts for three placings as a two-year-old,” he said.
Somersby enjoyed an ideal passage behind the pacemaker before running on to win at her debut, at Pinjarra three starts ago. She set the pace before wilting to fifth behind Ladys Are Ideal at Pinjarra last Monday week.
“Somersby is a bit behind Beaudiene Beach Girl and Our Major Mama and is drawn the worst as well,” Prentice said.
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