Picture: Beach Bomb with former trainer Candice Bass-Robinson and Drakenstein Stud’s racing manager Kevin Sommerville during the build up to Saturday’s race. (Candiese Lenferna Photography).
The former Candice Bass-Robinson-trained Drakenstein Stud homebred Beach Bomb ran a cracker in the Gr 1 Breeders Cup Filly And Mar Turf at Del Mar raecourse in San Diego on Saturday, especially considering she had to jump from a wide draw of eleven on a tight track that does not suit her.
The filly’s late sire Lancaster Bomber actually finished second in the Breeders Cup Mile on that course in 2017, although this race was over a mile and three furlongs.
Beach Bomb’s jockey Antonio Fresu managed to find a good position one out with cover in midfield.
He had an opportunity to get on to the rail in the home straight first time past past the stands and he made a move towards doing so, but then decided against it.
Two races earlier in the Breeders Cup Turf Sprint he had come from a midfield rails position to run second on the relative outsider Motorious in the Breeders Cup Turf Sprint.
In this race, as it panned out, Beach Bomb would have ended up behind the favourite Cinderella’s Dream had he decided to ride his longshot for luck and take that rails position and she might have been able to sneak a place.
Instead the tiny filly was continually shuffled outward as they jostled for position nearing the straight.
That is talking retrospectively though and he probably had good reason to have remained in that one out position because he had been behind the Canadian mare Moira, who had finished third in a stronger field last year and she duly went on to win on Saturday under superstar jockey Flavian Prat.
Beach Bomb had a mountain to climb once she had been shuffled outward, but she showed her usual huge heart by running on to be beaten only 3,50 lengths into eighth, a fine effort against some of the best in the world.
She looks to still have more racing in her and should soon be in the winner’s enclosure again.
