A WIDE barrier draw should not be enough to prevent quality four-year-old Beau Tide from taking winning form to Victoria for a crack at the Breeders Crown series.
Beautide will start from the outside of the front row (gate seven) in a field of eight and while he has outstanding form going into the race that includes a great last-start win in Hobart last Sunday night, he is by no means a certainty.
“I have a lot of respect for many of the other runners on Sunday night so it is by no means and easy target,” Rattray said.
“There are a few tat are racing in top form, especially the mare Queen Of Fire so we are definitely not treating the opposition lightly,” he said.
But on the flipside of those statements, Rattray admits Sunday night’s race has been on the radar for some time.
“This race on Sunday night is the one that we aimed him at to be at his peak before going to the mainland so everything has so far gone to plan,” Rattray said.
“The horse has done a wonderful job this season and other than one run that I thought was very out of character I’ve been more than pleased with his efforts,” he said.
Beautide faced the breeze in Hobart last Sunday night and when driver Gareth Rattray called on him to surge to the front he had to get busy on him in the straight when his arch-rival Quastor Centurion loomed as a threat 200 metres out.
However, Beautide answered the challenge and hit the line with a 2.3 metre margin over Quastor Centurion.