Beach Bomb working out at Del Mar racecourse (Candiese Lenferna Photography)
Drakenstein Stud’s racing manager Kevin Sommerville pointed out that all of the races at the Breeders’ Cup are weighted on the northern hemisphere weight for age scale.
On the South African weight for age scale Beach Bomb was actually 1kg under sufferance in the Gr 1 Breeders Cup Filly And Mare Turf considering four-year-olds in South Africa still get 1kg over the one mile three furlong (2200m) trip of the BC Filly And Mare Turf in the month of November, whereas she got no age allowance at all.
Her European and American four-year-old counterparts, who are all officially seven months older than her, would not get any age allowance on that same scale, it being the eleventh month of their four-year-old career.
November is the fourth month in the SA racing season and in the UK horses do not receive any weight for age allowance over one mile and three furlongs in the fourth month of their racing season i.e April.
Nevertheless, Kevin actually pointed out the anomaly to Breeders’ Cup officials and said they had responded favourably, meaning the consideration of hemisphere differences in weight for age allowances could soon be brought to the table for discussion.
Kevin said not a lot could be learnt from the run of Beach Bomb in the Gr 1 Breeders Cup Filly and Mare Turf due to the way the race was run and the nature of the tight Del Mar track.
Del Mar racecourse’s turf track has a short straight and quick turns and a total circumference of only one mile, with a straight that is around 330m long.
Kevin felt Beach Bomb had acquitted herself well in the slow run race, beaten just 3,50 length into 8th.
He said it probably proved that South African-breds were worth their places in such a field.
However, it was difficult to tell how well she would have done had she had conditions to suit i.e. a faster run race and the opportunity to unwind a finish on a longer straight, not to mention the extra 1kg weight for age allowance she could have been given.
On the other hand he pointed out there might well have been other horses in the race who had also not been suited to the track and the way the race had panned out. He used the Gr 1 Yorkshire Oaks winner Content as an example. The latter had finished just half-a-length in front of Beach Bomb.
The slow run race had led to some scrimmaging on the final turn and jockey Antonio Fresu had returned saying Beach Bomb had not enjoyed that.
Fresu had actually had Beach Bomb perfectly positioned, despite a wide draw, as she sat one wide in midfield and was directly behind the eventual winner Moira.
Beach Bomb started at 55/1 odds but Kevin said, “That might have been the odds, but that’s not what we thought her chances were and we wanted to try and give her the best chance possible. The winner comes about four or five wide around the turn and we are trying to track her but the horse on our outside actually squeezes us and keeps us in.”
He added, “If you look at the configuration of the track, it’s very, very tight and sometimes luck can play a role.”
Trainer Graham Motion had had to give Beach Bomb a relatively intense training schedule to get her ready in time for the Breeders Cup following her time spent in quarantine and he believed she now deserved a rest. There are also less turf races available in the winter months in the USA.
Beach Bomb’s owner and breeder Gaynor Rupert is looking forward to her turf campaign next year as she she will be coming in off a less rushed preparation and will be able to realise her true potential.
Kevin said dirt races would not be considered as Beach Bomb was not used to or physically suited to that surface.
