 | RACING HISTORY |
YEAR: 2011
FEATURE RACE COMMENT
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| Beaudiene Bad Babe outfinishes Lancome |
"If we're ever going to beat her, tonight's the night." Those were the exact words of trainer Murray Brown, moments before he and every other trainer faced the daunting task of tackling a rampant De Lovely in the $40,000 Premier Mare's Championship at Addington on Friday.
Brown's confidence heading into the Group 2 event with Beaudiene Bad Babe stemmed from a couple of things - primarily the way his mare seemed in the days prior, and the fact that he thought she was closing the gap on De Lovely in the two times they'd met.
"She beat us twice in December, but we got more than a couple of lengths closer to her the second time," Brown said. "De Lovely hadn't raced since then (December 17), whereas we'd come home and run those two thirds down south behind Stunin Cullen. And 'Babe' was just so well this week...she was fair kickin' the box down at Spreydon Lodge, and I hadn't seen her like that since last year."
Brown received another reason to think 'maybe' from the unlikeliest of sources on Friday: Geoff Small himself. "Geoff wished us luck on the way past our stall. I said to him that we'd be hard pressed to beat his mare though, because you can never head out there thinking you're going to win against a horse like De Lovely. But his reply was that 'we've got to get beat sometime'."
Brown didn't think much more of the passing comment as he headed out to find a spot in the stand. What he and the rest of us witnessed in the Caduceus Club of Canterbury sponsored event were two contrasting drives...Dexter Dunn at his brilliant best when he rolled to the top and took control with Beaudiene Bad Babe a lap out, and David Butcher producing something at the other end of the popularity scale in the eyes of punters when he sat and waited for far too long.
"It was another great drive from Dex," Brown said afterwards. "I saw him look around at the 600 metre mark and cut for it; I knew then that De Lovely was too far back, and wouldn't be able to catch us. She's one of those horses who really knows where the winning post is. She just surges and keeps kicking that last fifty metres."
Southland's pride and joy has now won 22 races from 41 appearances and just keeps marching on, her stakes tally having tipped over the $400,000 mark and not looking like stopping any day soon. Friday's victory was the Badlands Hanover-Beaudiene Babe 5-year-old mare's forth Group race success, and more importantly it gave her coveted back-to-back titles.
"You just can't explain the thrill that something like this gives you," Brown said. "I didn't mind in the least that all the hype was around De Lovely leading up to this, because it took the pressure off me. But you never get moments like these...to win this race two times in a row is just incredible. It's tingles down the spine stuff."
Brown has stuck to the same programme with Beaudiene Bad Babe every year, believing that a three-month spell at the start of each new season's campaign is an integral part of her overall success. Even that couldn't allow for Mother Nature throwing in her 'two cents worth' this season though..."She's taken longer to come up this time. And I admit that she probably got away from us after her latest trip north. Having had an easy two days at Gareth Dixon's after she finished racing in Auckland, and then a three-day trip home, she put on a bit of weight."
Brown and the Estate of Peter Ryan that race Beaudiene Bad Babe have resisted the lure of the New Zealand Cup until now, but that'll all change come November because the likeable Southland trainer believes she's finally ready for such a test. "The Cup has to be in our minds now," he said. "And she's paid up for the Inter-Dominions, because we've got to have a go when they're at home. We're not the best horse in it by any means, but she'll have to draw well one day and might just surprise a few."
Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 26Jan11