Gold Circle Pty (Ltd)

Today's Racing :

Field Flower blossoms

DAVID THISELTON
Peter de Beyer’s momentous run this year as a horse owner continued last Saturday with the Stephen Page trained Silvano filly, Field Flower,
adding a third Grade 1 win to his tally for 2009.
Field Flower, whom De Beyer owns in partnership with John Bryant, landed the Grade 1 Avontuur Estate Cape Fillies Guineas at Kenilworth on Saturday at long odds of 50-1 under a fine ride by regular pilot, Gerrit Schlechter.
“We knew Field Flower would improve on her Odessa run,” said De Beyer.
“The 1 400m was too short for her and she met with interference, but she ran on well to finish only five to six lengths back. “We thought we had as much
chance as any of the Cape fillies as they have not stood out this year.
“We didn’t know how good the Johannesburg fillies would be, but the two favoured ones (Jet Trail and Laverna) both had wide draws. So it was an open race and we arrived at the course thinking we could get a
place.
“Stephen did a magic job. A lot of credit must go to him. He has a relatively small string and can give each horse real individual attention. He knows
every horse intimately.” Page has also enjoyed a tremendous year and having
added this Grade 1 win to his one-two in the Canon Gold Cup, he rose back into the top 10 on the national trainers log despite having had less than a
100 runners in the season. De Beyer felt that “partnerships
are important in racing.” “Horse and jockey can get to know each other if you maintain a regular jockey, so that was another factor that helped.” He praised the condition of the Kenilworth summer course, saying it was “running very fairly and giving every horse a chance no matter which side they made their run on.”
De Beyer also owns the Glen Kotzen-trained Lady Windermere, in partnership with Johann and Gaynor Rupert’s Drakenstein Stud.
She was named Equus Champion Three-year-old Filly last season. De Beyer began sending horses to Stephen Page about ten to twelve years ago.
As his string got bigger, he decided to spread them between two trainers to lessen the impact of viruses and other downturns a yard can suffer.
He goes to the National Yearling Sale every year, alternating between Page and
Kotzen to help him buy. “I only buy fillies as breeding is my main interest,” he said.
“We usually buy conservatively and thought Field Flower went for a value price considering her decent looks, her excellent pedigree and how buoyant the market was at the time.
“Her sire Silvano had proven himself a very good sire, while her damsire, Northfields, was a champion broodmare sire.
“Her fourth dam is dam of Bold Ruler.”
Bold Ruler was a Hall of Fame racehorse in America
and went on to sire one of the all time greats, Secretariat.
De Beyer reckoned that Silvano’s progeny didn’t mature particularly early and
the best of them were seen as four-year-olds.
Field Flower,who has taken a while to mature, is a good
example. “She’s a straight forward sort of horse, I wouldn’t say laid
back, but relaxed. “She has matured slowly and is one of those deceptive sorts as she raises her game at the racetrack. You wouldn’t pick her out as a star on the training track.”
He was not sure of Field Flower’s route and felt that, unlike last year, the older horses would dominate the open features this summer.
“We might try her in the Derby Trial to see whether a crack at the Derby is worth it, although there look to be some every decent three-year-old
colts around.” De Beyer’s progeny from his breeding operation are starting to come through now. Most of them would be sent to the sales. He mostly uses the “value for money” sires, although he does have a share in both National Assembly and Jallad and also sent one mare to Jet Master

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