Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
Rising seven-year-old Bee Jays Boy broke through for an overdue win and ended a 31-month drought when he set the pace and scored a smart win in the 2130m Sefs, You Name It We Fund It Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
His previous win was on May 8, 2021, when he ran on and got up to beat Tyron Terranova in the 1140m Dash For Cash at Bunbury.
A superb tactical drive by Shannon Suvaljko paved the way for Bee Jays Boy’s victory. Bee Jays Boy was the $3.50 favourite from the No. 3 barrier, and Suvaljko sent him past Bettor Move Along to take up the running after 250m.
The lead time was 37.4sec. and Suvaljko then dropped anchor as Bee Jays Boy ambled over the opening 400m section of the final mile in 32.2sec. This was followed by a modest quarter of 30.3sec. before Suvaljko made life tough for the $3.70 second fancy Sugar Apple in the breeze by speeding through the third quarter in 27.7sec.
Bee jays Boy needed only a 29sec. final quarter to keep Sugar Apple at bay and win by a length, rating 1.58.3.
The victory brought back fond memories for Suvaljko, who recalled his first drive behind Bee Jays Boy for trainer Frank Bonnet in a $20,000 two-year-old event at Gloucester Park in 2019 when the colt led and won easily from Blue Stone.
Bee Jays Boy was having his eighth start for Henley Brook trainer Mike Reed on Friday night, and the win improved the horse’s record to 60 starts for seven wins, 23 placings and $91,375.
Bee Jays Boy is by American stallion Big Jim and is the fourth foal out of the Washington VC mare Our Cloudy Dawn, who raced in WA between 2008 and 2010 and was retired with earnings of $56,494 from eight wins and 18 placings from 77 starts.
Bee Jays Boy is owned by Max Wimbridge, a long-term stable client, who has enjoyed many successes with Reed-trained pacers, including Admiral’s Echo (75 starts for 14 wins, 17 placings and $78,494) and Admiral’s Arc (96 starts for 25 wins, 32 placings and $110,862).
Our Cloudy Dawn is a full-sister to Capitol V, who excelled under Reed’s care, and was retired with a fine record of 135 starts for 18 wins, 29 placings and stakes of $237,717. Capitol V’s wins included four Group 3 feature events, the John Higgins Memorial and Parliamentarians Cup in 2007, the Stratton Cup in 2008 and the Brennan Memorial in 2009.