All the sweeter when they're sitting on a rank outsider and have to come from a long way back to win by the shortest official margin in the book.
Technically a short half-head but in reality simply the bob on the line, with Madison Lloyd’s Beautiful Bee timing it to perfection — justifying the faith Benalla trainer Russell Osborne had in his six-year-old mare after Lloyd had ridden it to success at Swan Hill on August 24, winning by a short half-head.
Swan Hill was a 975 m dash for cash and the $50,000 MRC Membership BM70 at Sandown on Wednesday was over 1000 m — and with Lloyd’s 3 kg claim and a very patient, very calculating ride it proved a win-win for everyone.
With about 150 m to run, the 20/1 shot Beautiful Bee was more than four lengths off the pace after Lloyd managed to extricate herself from an increasingly congested pack of horses thundering down the straight.
Sitting outside the field, she gave Beautiful Bee a tap with her persuader to get her attention and then hands and heels drove her past one horse after another, catching the well-tried Iknewshewasmine right on the line.
But Lloyd clearly knew it was hers because she battled to remain the cool professional as a massive smile split her face on the return to scale. The young hoop also got a clear lesson about city racing, with more than half the BM70 field in a blanket finish which took judges and cameras some time to resolve.
Osborne said the next stop for the back-to-back winner would be Moonee Valley later this month.
“It was a good win here in town, and Madison rode her to perfection and it was fantastic to be able to share her first city winner,” Osborne said.
“For a young rider to have that much poise and put in such a professional ride shows she has a bright future in racing.”
Beautiful Bee has now won $170,000 in prize money in her seven from 37 career.
But Osborne was also just as excited about his three-year-old filly Zooming Zebra, which is running in the $140,000 Cap D’Antibes Stakes over 1100 m at Flemington on Saturday.
In a good omen for the trainer known as `Last Race Russell’, the Zebra will be running in the ninth and last on the card.
And just like Beautiful Bee, his horse is the 150/1 rank outsider — which is just the way Osborne likes it because it has been such a successful formula for him.
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