Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
Marbeechsam caused an upset as the rank outsider at $118.20 when he finished strongly to win the Vale Terry Gaunt Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night to give his part-owner and trainer Mike Beech a welcome fillip.
The 77-year-old Beech was in a miserable mood as he nursed his painful left leg while he reclined on the couch at home to watch the race on television. His temperament improved vastly when Ryan Warwick took advantage of a dream inside run to drive Marbeechsam to victory over the $3.80 second favourite Sista Sammy.
Beech’s partner Margie Guy revealed that the trainer had been kicked high on the left leg by a frisky young pacer after a track workout on Friday morning. Beech had shooed at a pesky fly, causing the horse to kick out in fright.
Marbeechsam, a winner two starts earlier, following an impressive third behind Vegas Strip two starts before that, was vastly over the odds-on Friday night when he began from the No. 3 barrier.
Warwick did not bustle Marbeechsam in the early stages, and the four-year-old raced in seventh position, four back on the pegs while the polemarker and $2.05 favourite Chaco Eagle was setting the pace, with Sista Sammy working in the breeze.
With 300m to travel Marbeechsam was under lock and key, still four back on the pegs, until the two pegs’ horses in front of him, Loucid Dreams and Adda Spoilt Major, were eased off the inside, providing Marbeechsam with a heaven-sent opportunity to take advantage of the situation.
Loucid Dreams was looming as a strong winning chance until he broke into a gallop approaching the home turn, and Warwick dashed Marbeechsam forward to hit the front 50m from the post and go and on win comfortably from Sista Sammy (who had taken the lead on the home turn) and the fast-finishing $71 outsider Per Ardua Ad Astra.
Marbeechsam, a four-year-old by New Zealand stallion Foreclosure, is the third foal out of the Mach Three mare Generally Outspoken, who raced 26 times for eight wins (including the Gold Bracelet in July 2013), five placings and $69,688.
Beech paid $20,000 for Marbeechsam at the 2021 Perth APG yearling sale, and he races the gelding in partnership with Margie Guy, Sam Salamone and his daughter Margaret McKenner. Marbeechsam, who was named after combining the names of his owners, has had 29 starts for five wins, seven placings and $39,433.
Marbeechsam is a half-brother to Chrysoprase (51 starts for six wins, 15 placings and $64,426) and Whataretheodds (19 starts for six wins, six placings and $87,840).
Reinsman Vance Stampalia said that Chaco Eagle was unlucky, explaining that the four-year-old had cast his nearside hind shoe at the start, causing him to be at a disadvantage by getting down on his bumpers.