The chance that paid off

Clyde Buckingham didn't know what to think when he saw Windsor Park studmaster Nelson Schick striding up to him with purpose at a stallion parade.

''Have I got a deal for you?'' Schick began.

The deal was a horse for Buckingham to take for free and the only catch was he would have to pay $1500 for an operation to remove bone chips from his knees.

Windsor Park Stud apparently already had a couple of racehorses on the injured list and couldn't afford the box space for another.
Buckingham agreed, though he admits there was a degree of reluctance.

''Nelson said 'I'm going to give you a horse and a bloody good horse too. His name is Richard Beymer','' Buckingham recalled on Saturday after that very horse took out the day's Te Rapa feature, the Listed $45,000 Timpson Family Trust Sprint (1200m).

''I said I'd take him only if the bone chips were no lower than his knee. He had won his first two races for Mark Walker and then broken down in the Manawatu Sires' Produce Stakes. Anyhow the bone chips operation went from $1500 to $2700 and he was boxed for 3 1/2 months but we were away.

''I hadn't heard of Jakki Good but Nelson said this horse needed to be trained on the beach so he was running in a straight line.

''Jakki's done a marvellous job with him. With the generosity of the Schick family and the expertise of Jakki, we've got a horse who's a bloody thrill to have around.''

Buckingham has enjoyed great success, having raced Gr I AJC Derby winner Ebony Grosve and stood him at stud for two years before selling him to Australia, and he and Kit Davison bred this year's Gr I Diamond Stakes winner Kaaptan.

But he is getting just as much fun out of plucky frontrunning sprinter Richard Beymer, who took his record to 10 wins from 28 starts on Saturday.

Ridden by Kate Hercock, Richard Beymer was at his best in his customary frontrunner's role, cruising along at a good pace and defying the chasing pack even in a slick 1:8.93, a time which was only 0.01 seconds outside Romanee Conti's race record, set in 1992, and only 0.12 seconds outside the track record of 1:8.81, set by Promise Me in 1995.

It was Richard Beymer's second stakes win after his Listed First Sovereign Trust Stakes (1100m) win at Pukekohe last year, and his third black-type performance, having also run second to Bulginbaah in the Gr III Foxbridge Plate (1200m) at Te Rapa this season.
''He doesn't like getting beaten on wet tracks - he gets prickly,'' Good said.

''He's a good horse but he just needs those things in his favour like a good track and a soft lead which he got today. If he gets those things, he's home and hosed.''

Good said the Gr I Railway Stakes (1200m) at Ellerslie on January 1 was the chief goal for Volksraad six-year-old, though she was yet to resolve his leadup races.

One option is the Listed Counties Bowl, the race he won at Pukekohe last year, but Good said she was unlikely to set Richard Beymer for the Gr II Concorde Handicap (1200m) at Avondale in December.

''He's really turned the corner in the last couple of weeks and we've just got to hope things go his way from now on.''

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