Veteran stayer in with chance to repeat history

THE southern men hope it will be like father, like son at Trentham today.

Southland horsemen Tommy Beckett and Michael Crooks will attempt to win the Wellington Cup, 20 years after their fathers combined to win the historic race.

Cecil Beckett, then based at Riverton, trained Ed, who was owned and bred by Southland farmer Bert Crooks, to win the 1995 cup.

The second generation hopes will be carried by Esprit D’Or, a close relation to Ed, who is trained by Tommy Beckett and owned by Michael Crooks and will race in the same colours as Ed.

Nine-year-old Esprit D’Or is the oldest horse in the field and was at $26 in final field betting yesterday but ran third in the New Zealand Cup in November and was a creditable fourth over 2100m in the Trentham Stakes a week ago.

‘‘It would be real cool to win the race again, with the same families, and I think he’s capable of doing it, if he can get the right run,’’ Beckett said.

‘‘He’s a good stayer and probably needs to be in front on the turn. He’s just a grinder and doesn’t go any faster but will keep going at the same speed.’’

Esprit D’Or can be a difficult horse to deal with and has a habit of deciding that enough is enough and refusing to continue when worked in the normal fashion the track.

As a result, he now does most of his work attached to a truck, either at the track at Ascot Park, in Invercargill, or at Oreti Beach.

‘‘He hardly ever has a saddle on his back between races these days,’’ Beckett said.

‘‘We started taking him to the beach about four months ago. We usually take him three times a week, for straight-line training. He does a lot of work and it gets him very fit but it’s quite timeconsuming and each trip takes up about three hours.’’

Beckett has been based at Foxton since the first day at Trentham, so that Esprit D’Or can continue with his beach work.

Esprit D’Or, who will be ridden by Trudy Thornton today, will be Beckett’s third Wellington Cup runner.

Ed, who contested the race four times, was prepared by Beckett for one of those attempts, finishing ninth in 1999, and Beckett also tackled the race with King D’Or, an older half-brother to Esprit D’Or, who was unplaced in 2000.

King D’Or, who won 12 races, was the first and Esprit D’Or the last of 10 foals left by their dam, Queen of Gold.

Beckett, 64, has just a handful of horses in work and has raced only two horses this term. Remarkably, that has been enough to give him a runner in each of the two big races at Trentham today.

Esprit D’Or has been ac-

at companied north by Miss Three Stars, a much-improved mare who will tackle the Group I Thorndon Mile.

Miss Three Stars faces a sharp rise in class today and was at $41 yesterday but has four wins and two seconds from 14 starts and has already been competitive in good company.

She was a creditable sixth in the Group II Coupland’s Mile at Riccarton in November and did well for fifth, beaten 2.5 lengths, in the Anniversary Handicap on the first day at Trentham, after being held up for a run.

Canterbury apprentice Sam Wynne rode the mare in the Anniversary but is suspended this weekend and Vanessa Johnston has the mount today.

Miss Three Stars is part-owned by Michael Crooks, who races the mare with a syndicate of family and friends.

It would not be hard to predict the tipple of choice for the syndicate if the mare wins today, as she is named after the three stars that adorn the Speight’s labels. Every southern man would approve.