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Farmor Beach punishes Vince Curry rivals

18 February 2020

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By Isaac Murphy

Of his six initial runners in the Group 3 Vince Curry Memorial Maiden Series, trainer Steve Scott stated that Farmor Beach was the most talented dog in spades, but just too young (17 months) to win the series.

Scott was happy to be proven wrong after the pup completed a domination of the $57,500 Vince Curry Memorial Final, streaking away by twelve lengths in Saturday night’s final to take home the world’s richest maiden race.

Three weeks ago, Farmor Beach had never attempted the 520 metres even in a trial, but after two scintillating runs in the heat and semis, Scott said a strange calm came over him before Saturday night’s final.

“I’d been worrying all week about him picking up the virus that’s affected so many kennels, we scratched all our runners in the lead up to make sure he got to the start healthy.”

“Once I got him to the boxes it was one big sigh of relief as he’d shown he was the best dog in the series, had the red and couldn’t be more ready to race.

“It was strange afterwards everyone was telling me how loud the crowd was but as soon as I saw him lead, I knew it was all over, everything went quiet and I was just able to enjoy the moment.”

Scott described the achievement of winning the Vince Curry as one of his crowning achievements in the sport and he couldn’t be prouder of what his boom pup had produced.

“We had a bunch of family headed by Dad come down by bus from Toowoomba, add to that all the staff that are so key to our success it was a pretty special night.”

“I don’t tend to get too emotional myself, but to see some of the staff who do the hard yards in tears showed me how special our operation was and how lucky we were to share a moment like that.”

Often in the Vince Curry, the best dog doesn’t win the series whether it be bad box draws or one unlucky run, but Farmor Beach successfully took luck out of the equation.

“I thought he would run a good race from the red in the heats and when I saw 30.30 (seconds) flash up for his first 520, we had something to work with,” Scott said.

“The semi-final was his defining run, a middle draw (4), wet conditions, a let down from his first up run, he had plenty of excuses.

“Even though he didn’t nail the start, the way he buckled down for another comfortable win was pleasing, and once we drew the red for the final I knew they wouldn’t beat him.”

The S & K Kennel are looking to strike while the iron is hot, with a trip to the Group 3 Launhing Pad run over three weeks at Sandown Park already set in stone for the Fernando Bale /Kinloch Beach product.

“The timing between series’ is ideal for him, with heats starting March 26 I’ll head down there next week and give him a look at the track,” Scott said.

“Hopefully if he can make it through the heats we will leave him in the capable hands of Robbie Britton down there to really let him settle in.

“It’s another jump in grade, it’s restricted to dogs with six or less wins in thirty or less starts, he’s only had the three but after what he’s shown us, he’s earnt the opportunity.

“The scariest thing with him is he’s only going to get better and even if he strikes out down there we’ve got a young dog who is not yet two, a Group 3 to his name and a massive future.”