Golden Vekoma’s battling victory in the US$1.5 million G3 Saudi Derby on Saturday was a triumph for jockey Connor Beasley that further signalled his intent to push his name into the Group 1 mix, almost 10 years after a horrific fall came close to derailing his career.
Beasley, 30, is riding high in second place in the UAE premiership this winter and arrived in Riyadh having already sampled big-race success this term with the Purebred Arabian Heros De Lagarde in the G1 The President’s Cup and Golden Vekoma himself in the G3 UAE 2,000 Guineas.
The rider’s performance in driving Golden Vekoma to victory at King Abdulaziz Racecourse was not at all out of place on a night when the star jockeys in action included the likes of Ryan Moore, John Velazquez, Yutaka Take, Christophe Lemaire, Joel Rosario, Oisin Murphy, Yuga Kawada and James McDonald.
“You’re racing with the world’s best here, it’s a big stage and you’ve got people on horses from all over the world, so to get the job done, well it’s just what dreams are made of,” Beasley told Idol Horse.
“For myself, at this stage of my career, I need these winners to reach the next level and that’s where I want to go. I’m hungry, I’m enthusiastic, and if I’m given the chances, I’ll do my best to deliver. We’ve just shown there that it can be done.”
Golden Vekoma broke well in the 1600m dirt track contest, but Beasley was soon chasing him along to keep the freewheeling Japanese raider Shin Forever within close range. As the group galloped towards the turn out of the back straight, Beasley made a key move, advancing his mount between the Japanese fillies Mistress and Myriad Love, driving determinedly to keep his horse honest and shrugging off the wide-running Mistress.
“He jumped pretty smartly but obviously the Japanese horses were a lot sharper than him going away down the back and I felt we were going good fractions, but it was always in my mind that I had to keep tabs on them. All my horse does is gallop, so I didn’t want to let them get too far away,” he said.
“I just had to edge for a little bit of room. I definitely did have to get there because I felt I needed a little bit of help off my horse, and also when I was in behind the leader, with the other Japanese horse there, I was just getting a little bit too much kickback. Once I got him out and got him in between them, I spurred him forward and he dropped a gear and started to gain plenty of ground on the lead horse.”
Beasley gave Golden Vekoma two cracks on the home turn as Shin Forever opened up a two-length gap on the pursuer. The Dubai-trained colt responded with a lengthened stride, but once into the home straight, the powerful bay was lugging in towards his rival, prompting Beasley to change whip hand three times to maintain balance and momentum.
“He was on his near-fore lead and I just wanted to switch to his off-fore,” Beasley explained. “Normally he does that without me even asking him, but today on a different surface – it’s a lot deeper than we’re used to back in Dubai – I daresay that had a big part to play. But when he didn’t change legs the first time, I just wanted to keep momentum going forward and he surely did that.
“I had to ask him early enough under pressure but at the same time, you know, a big straight like this, he got into full flight and full stride and galloped all the way to the line.”
Golden Vekoma passed the post a length and three quarters clear of the Akira Sugawara-ridden Shin Forever. The next assignment is likely to be the G2 UAE Derby over 1900m at Meydan on April 5.
“I imagine that’ll be the plan,” Beasley said. “Obviously, he already got his ticket for there when he won the 2,000 Guineas at Meydan, so now he’s got plenty of time in between, there’s six weeks, we’ll see how he is when he gets back to Dubai and I’m sure the boss and the owners will come to some sort of plan, and I daresay that would be it.”
The boss is trainer Ahmad bin Harmash for whom Beasley rides through the winter UAE season – back in England he has a close connection with the man he was a successful apprentice to, Michael Dods, in his native County Durham – while Golden Vekoma’s owner is Mohammed Al Suboosi.
Bin Harmash sourced Golden Vekoma for US$90,000 at the OBS Spring Two-Year-Old in Training sale in Florida last year: the colt picked up first place prizemoney of US$900,000 for his Saudi Derby win. And Beasley believes the best is still to come.
“He’s got plenty of potential,” the jockey said. “He’s a big horse so what he’s done for us this season, as just turned three, he’s going to be more exciting next season when he’s bigger and stronger and he’s had a summer on his back.”
Beasley, who was airlifted to hospital in bad shape following a race fall in July 2015, hopes he will continue to deliver on his own potential, too, and with Bin Harmash’s winter support giving him opportunities in the global spotlight, there’s every chance he will.
“I’ve got a lot of support behind me,” he said, “and a good team to work for at Ahmad bin Harmash, we’re like a family over there, we put in everything. Everything is thought through with not just me, and the owners, but also the stable staff. I’ve got a lot of people to thank but I’m just delighted I got the job done.
“It’s a big achievement for myself, the horse and all the connections, and for our team back at base,” he added. “It’s a fantastic day and the horse has done us very proud.” ∎
