Long spell leads to rapid development for Beautiful Child

By Josh Spasaro

A four-month spell has helped Beautiful Child gather some formidable momentum heading into the National Distance Final at Sandown on Saturday night.

The juvenile black bitch takes a seven-race winning streak into the Group 1 feature over 715 metres and Wakerley trainer Ben McGrath has been delighted with her rapid progress.

Still just 29 months old, the My Redeemer and Rumbling Away stayer returned a much more mature chaser on March 21, winning 12 of her 18 starts since then, including her past seven in a row.

“She had a season around Christmas time last year and she was just really immature. So, I thought I’d give her six weeks out in the paddock. And, I left her there for eight,” McGrath said.

“Being a bit inexperienced, I didn’t realise how long it takes to get her fit again. But, it probably worked wonders in the end.

“She had eight weeks in the paddock and it took me another 10 weeks, I think it was, to get her fit again. Since then, she just came back strong.”

Regular trips to the beach have also aided Beautiful Child’s mental development.

“I take her down to the beach every second Sunday in the salt water and you can just see the stimulation it does for them,” McGrath said.

“It just changes her. It does it for humans, as well.”

Beautiful Child will start from box three in the $150,750 Final on Saturday night.

That should give her an opportunity to showcase her impressive early speed at box rise, which enabled her to lead all the way in the Queensland National Distance Final, crossing the line in 41.03 seconds.

“You’ve just got to see what happens when you get down there. I’m under no illusions,” McGrath said.

“But, with that box speed, she’ll put half of them out of the question and it depends on who’s peaking on the night, doesn’t it?

“She’s just starting to hit a flat spot coming to the winning post the first time around. And, then over the back straight she’s doing her best work – she’s so strong.

“But, when you’re fast early and so strong late, it’s very hard to beat her.”

McGrath said Beautiful Child also showed an impressive ability to learn quickly during her education phase.

“She’s a very intelligent dog. John Jeffrey broke her in up at Postmans Ridge and he did a wonderful job with her,” he said.

“In the boxes, she’s unbelievable. She can’t wait to get into them and she can’t wait to get out of them, which is a good thing. She’s always been fast.”

When Beautiful Child finished fourth in her Flying Amy heat after finding herself in early traffic from box four on June 11, McGrath decided to step her up to 600 metres.

She won three consecutive starts at that distance, followed by four in a row over 710 metres.

“I’ve got one thing right, anyway,” McGrath said with a laugh.

“In the Flying Amy heats, I was confident she could win that. She drew the four and she just got jammed up at the first turn.

“I thought while all these good dogs are here I’ll go up to the 600 metres with the Nationals in mind, if she could run it. So, it was good timing. She’s been unbeaten since she stepped up.”

McGrath runs Annual Pest Management – his own small pest control business – as well as training three dogs.

“There’s not a lot of time. I’m up at 3.30am every morning to do the dogs. And, then Dad comes over to take them for a walk,” he said.

“I normally get home at 5pm and then I do the dogs again. So, it’s pretty rewarding when you get a good one, I guess.”