Beau Dazzler relishes damp conditions to claim Grand Prix Stakes

[Wandering Eyes]

Beau Dazzler winning the Group 3 Grand Prix Stakes. Photo: Darren Winningham

The Tony & Maddysen Sears-trained Beau Dazzler ($8.00) has come with a withering burst to claim the Group 3 Grand Prix Stakes (1800m) at Eagle Farm on Saturday afternoon, revelling in the testing Heavy 10 conditions to claim a dominant 2.9-length victory in the $300,000 feature.

The son of Ardrossan had previously been unplaced in three performances on Heavy tracks, including his latest effort at Doomben on November 30 when finishing fourth behind race rival and $3.90 favourite with BlondeBet, Moon Sweeper.

He was able to turn the tables this time around courtesy of a terrific ride by Jag Guthmann-Chester, sitting midfield with cover the entire journey while Apuntar ($5.00) led them out at a strong tempo under Taylor Marshall.

The Matthew Dunn-trained Moonsweeper appears to get every chance from the trail behind the leader but didn’t seem to handle the bottomless conditions, stepping up to the 1800m for the first time.

The pair of Sun Worshipper ($19.00) and Madame Lexis ($41.00) were making strong inroads late, but it was all in vain, however, as Beau Dazzler was off and gone with the prize once asked to extend in the concluding stages.

2024 Group 3 Grand Prix Stakes Replay – Beau Dazzler

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Co-trainer Maddysen Sears was on course to represent the stable and couldn’t have been more delighted with the performance.

“He has always shown us a lot but he is a very tricky horse,” Maddy Sears said.

“He is not an easy horse to do things with and I do have to make mention of James who rides him every day as he is very naughty, but we thought he was a very good chance today.

“We bought him as a Derby-style of horse, and we didn’t think the distance would be any problem whatsoever and when the rain came in it was almost like a 2000m race with how heavy it was.

“His ability prevailed, and it was a great ride by Jag. He drew barrier one, but he kept him off the fence and he just speared through and put them away.” Sears said Guthmann-Chester was an underrated rider.

“He is very strong and he vary rarely does things wrong on horses and he got the job done today,” she said.

With a Group 1 Queensland Derby (2400m) campaign the focus through the winter, Beau Dazzler is likely to have one more run this campaign.

“I believe there is a 2000m race in two weeks’ time that he will run in and then we will put him away and I think he will be a force to be reckoned with in the Queensland Derby,” Sears said.

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