Talented four-year-old pacer Beautide will move a step closer to his major harness racing assignment this preparation when he steps out in the Cleghorn Farm Standardbreds 4YO Classic over 2200 metres in Launceston tonight (Sunday April 8).
Beautide was last season's top Tasmanian three-year-old, capping a stellar season with a convincing victory in the Globe Derby (sires stakes) final in June last year.
Trainer Barrie Rattray gave him a long break and it obviously did the gelding the world of good as he resumed with a sensational win in the Westbury Cup at Carrick two weeks ago.
Beautide started off a back mark of 30 metres but the gelded son ofBettors Delight-Gorse Bush made light of the task.
He worked three-wide for the last lap but forged clear close to home to score by almost three metres from Rock 'N' Run and Left Loaded.
"The horse has done well since his first=-up win and I expect him to run well tonight," Rattray said today.
There is a possibility that Beautide could venture across Bass Strait later this year but Rattray is non-committal.
"His main mission is the Raider Stakes (at Devonport on April 29) and we haven't planned anything beyond that race," Rattray said.
"But he is paid up for the Breeders Crown series so that might be an option," he said.
The 4YO Breeders Crown series in Victoria will be held in August.
While the Rattray stable rates Beautide a top chance of winning tonight's 4YO Classic, it also will be keen to see stable first starter Devendra perform well on debut in the Island Block and Paving Golden Slipper over 1680 metres.
Devendra is by Bettors Delight from Rattray's former champion mare Queen Carey that won 18 of her 52 starts with 17 minor placings and she notched a best mile rate of 1.56.3s recorded in winning the first race on the harness track that forms part of the Tattersall's Park tri-code racing complex in Hobart.
Rattray said Devendra is a nice type that probably has a future but he wasn't giving anything away.
"I like the horse and whatever he does tonight he will improve on," Rattray said.
"There are a couple of really nice two-year-olds in the race and I would think that on what they have shown so far they might be a bit too good at this stage, in particular Palmisano that won well on debut," he said.
Palmisano (x American Deal) is prepared by Brian Stanley who bred the gelding from his broodmare Lucyna (xVillage Jasper) that won nine and was placed 17 times from her 50 starts.