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Beamonesque Puts In A Beamonesque Display

By October 17, 2023October 28th, 2023SA Racing
Picture : Beamonesque powers home on Saturday (JC Photos)

The three-year-old picture perennially builds at this time of the season and there is always the chance that some of the perceived best performances turn out to be false alarms.

However, there seems nothing false about the performances of the three-year-old male who has been receiving the highest praise to date, the unbeaten Frank Robinson-trained Sid Moodley-owned Visionaire gelding Sovereign State, and his form was further franked on Saturday at Turffontein Inside by the Mike de Kock-trained Beamonesque.
The Shadwell Stud-bred Rafeef colt had his second career start and slammed a maiden field over 1200m by seven lengths under Gavin Lerena.
Beamonsesque had finished a 1,10 length third to Sovereign State on debut over 1000m at Hollywoodbets Scottsville, with King Of The Gauls 0,25 lengths further back in fourth.
Sovereign State has gone on to win two more races impressively, while King Of The Gauls won his next start over the same Hollywoodbets Scottsville 1000m course and distance with ease.
In the race on Saturday Gavin Lerena took Beamonesque straight to the front from draw five in the nine horse field.
He started at cramped odds of 5/10 with Ethanator, who had not been disgraced in his previous start in the BSA Sales Cup when finishing 9,55 lengths behind the smart Main Defender, next in the betting at 28/10.
Beamonesque is not a big horse but has plenty of substance and looked to be enjoying himself as he set fair fractions.
He pulled further and further clear in the straight under a hands and heels ride.

Mike de Kock said: “Beamonesque has a lot of pace, so much so that I won’t mind putting him in a 1000m race. I think we’ll keep him to sprinting for now. It’s too soon to make a call on him, we’ll need to see more, but he does give us the vibes of a horse that has a future. He reminds me a bit of (our international G1 winning sprinter) Shea Shea.”

Jockey Gavin Lerena said that Beamonesque had given him a nice feel: “He jumped well and switched off, did it like a gentleman. He’s a nice horse and this was a lovely win.”

Beamonesque races for Warne Rippon and Arun Chadha’s ASSM Syndicate, with Mathew de Kock, Corey Smith, Clint and James Prebble from Australia also involved, and Mike owning a share himself.

Said Corey, the communications manager for Mathew and training partner Robbie Griffiths at Cranbourne: “We watched the race live and were ecstatic. Clint is a lifelong racing supporter and a big fan of Mike and his crew. James works in racing, also, for Mathew Cumani who has another South African Jason May (formerly from Drakenstein) working for him. So we all shared a smile!”

The word Beamoneque entered the English lexicon after what was undoubtedly the greatest single feat in the history of sporting endeavor, the “leap of the century” done by Bob Beamon at the 1968 Mexico Olympics.
Beamon lived in an era when the equivalent of the four minute mile for long jump was 28 foot and the record at the time was still more than seven inches short of that seemingly unattainable mark. Yet in one incredible leap Beamon not only cleared 28 foot, he cleared 29 foot, improving a record that had increased 0,22m in 33 years by 0,55m, which is 21,65 inches i.e nearly two feet!
Wednesday this week will be the 55th’s anniversary of that jump and yet it is has only been bettered once since then, by Mike Powell when he set a new mark of 8.95m on August 31, 1991, improving Beamon’s record by 5cm.
A superior performance can now be said to be “Beamonesque” and part-owner Warne Rippon confirmed that was how the horse got his name.
Beamonesque was bought for R170,000 as an unnamed colt at the 2022 National yearling Sale.
He is out of a placed Exceed ‘N Excel mare.
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