The decision to ride Beadman more patiently in the Gold Coast Guineas has paid dividends for connections, who are now eyeing a start in the feature sprint of the Brisbane winter carnival.
The three-year-old had finished out of the placings at his past two starts in Sydney after taking out the Fireball Quality (1100m) first-up, prompting a change of tactics for Saturday’s Group 3 race.
“The last couple of starts he drew bad gates and going forward backfired. He has been over-racing,” trainer Peter Snowden said.
“Today, he was really good. He built into it, and he was strong late. You keep riding him those sort of races we’ll get better results.
“He’s a beautiful horse to deal with. He’s got a great nature, he’s got a great temperament and hopefully he can be a good horse.”
Beadman created a huge impression at the corresponding meeting last year when he won the Ken Russell Memorial Classic (1200m) by more than eight lengths.
Returning to the scene of his biggest triumph on Saturday, he didn’t replicate the margin, but he did underscore his capabilities for the remainder of the Queensland carnival.
Snowden confirmed the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) at Eagle Farm in June was their ultimate goal, and Beadman would have one more run in either next weekend’s Doomben 10,000 (1200m) or the Fred Best Classic (1400m) a fortnight before the Stradbroke.
“Discussions were made to run him next week in the (Doomben) 10,000. It’s on the table, but ultimately, a race like the Stradbroke is where you want to be,” Snowden said.
“We can go to the three-year-old race two weeks into that, or we back him up next week. We’ll see how the horse pulls up and make a call in a couple of days’ time.”
Winning jockey James McDonald is hoping connections bypass the 10,000 where he already holds a booking for the Tom Charlton-trained Napoleonic.
“I’ve got a ride in the Doomben 10,000 so I don’t want him running there,” McDonald said.
“First time we’ve ridden him a bit conservatively, and he responded really well.”
Beadman ($2.60 fav) scored by a length over filly Nepo Baby ($5) with Motorsports ($14) running on well from the back to grab third, another head away.
