Interview with journeyman jockey based in the North of England landed a 40-1 shock on Dark Saffron in the Dubai Golden Shaheen, having already landed the G1 Kahayla Classic for Arab horses
No jockey enjoyed a more productive Dubai World Cup night than Connor Beasley, whose G1 double on Dark Saffron and First Classs (in the Arab race) were his first wins at the top level and came from his only two rides on the prestigious card at Meydan.
Yet it might have been even better. Beasley, 30, had hoped Golden Vekoma – aboard whom he has landed the UAE 2,000 Guineas and the Saudi Derby – would be in action as a leading contender for the UAE Derby, but unfortunately the talented colt was not quite right on returning from Riyadh.
“I had a fantastic win on Golden Vekoma in the Saudi Derby,” reports Beasley, who was delighted to get home on Sunday in time to see his middle child Kaden uphold the family honour by winning a pony race at Sheriff Hutton in North Yorkshire.
“The UAE Derby was to be his next target, but it takes a lot of doing to go to Riyadh and do what he did there, and perhaps it took more out of him than we appreciated,” the jockey adds.
“With Heart of Honor just touched off in the UAE Derby, and Shin Forever running well in it too, we know Golden Vekoma’s form stacks up really well, and he’s definitely one to be looking forward to next year, as he’s a big horse and he did well to do what he did this season.
“I’d imagine they will be thinking of the Saudi Cup and the Dubai World Cup next year, and he’ll definitely stay the distance.”
At the time Beasley described his Saudi win as “a massive moment”, and added that “winning on a stage like this, against world-class rivals, is exactly where I want to be”.
Saturday, though, was even bigger as he netted both the Dubai Kahayla Classic on First Classs for multiple UAE champion trainer Doug Watson and then followed up on 40-1 chance Dark Saffron in the Golden Shaheen.
“It was fantastic to be fair,” says the rider, who is a regular in the Middle East. “Definitely a good weekend’s work!
“I got off to a great start on First Classs,” he goes on. “It was only the third time I’d sat on him but he’d won a good race at Abu Dhabi on the turf two starts back and had then finished second to a good Arabian horse two weeks before, so the form was there.
“He hadn’t run on dirt for a little while, but I got a good position despite a wide draw. The race collapsed a little bit in front of me and we had to make our own way home from turning in, but he dug deep for me.”
The three-year-old Dark Saffron was a surprise winner of the Golden Shaheen; like Golden Vekoma, he represents UAE-based trainer Ahmad bin Harmash.
Beasley explains:“Dark Saffron was a big improver through the winter and won on dirt at Meydan back in November before bumping into good up-and-coming sprinters on turf and running some mighty races.
“He then won by seven lengths at Meydan only three weeks before the Golden Shaheen. He was an outsider on Saturday, but he’s got a hell of a lot of natural speed and it was fantastic to get the job done like that, making all and holding off Wesley Ward’s Nakatomi by a neck.
“I’ve had a fantastic link up with Ahmad for quite a few winters now – the stable is only getting bigger and stronger each season.”
It’s been almost ten years now since Beasley had a horrific fall at Wolverhampton which threatened to end his career. He suffered a bleed on the brain, a fractured skull, and serious neck and spine injuries that required him to spend three months back at home with a cumbersome neck-and-back brace strapped right around him, with rods from under his jaw all the way down to his lower back and waist.
Beasley counts himself lucky that he has no memory of the incident, and luckier still that he was back in the saddle only eight months later. Engaged to fiancée Carla at the time, they married soon afterwards and now have three children, all of whom were able to fly out to Dubai from time to time.
Back in the North of England the day-to-day fare tends to consist of maidens, novices and handicaps, but he’s a biggish fish in that particular pond.
Beasley’s services are in demand with a broad range of trainers and he has enjoyed a particularly long and fruitful partnership with Michael Dods, for whom his near-200 winners include 12 on stable stalwart Commanche Falls – among them two Stewards’ Cups, a Listed race and a G3 -and no fewer than 15 on fellow veteran Dakota Gold, both of whom remain in training. There was also a good win in last year’s Northumberland Plate on Onesmoothoperator for Brian Ellison.
This latest spell in the Middle East saw Beasley win 43 races in Dubai, plus the Saudi Derby and three races in Bahrain. It has been a lucrative winter indeed: the Saudi Derby had a purse of $1.5m, while the two G1 events at Meydan carried prize-money of $1m and $2m respectively. By comparison, Beasley’s 90 domestic winners in 2022, his best season, earned only a little over £1.4m (approximately $1.8m).
Home is home, however, and there was no resting on his Dubai laurels, Beasley winning at Redcar on his first day back and arguing that “the minute you take your foot off the gas in this game you might as well pack up”.
He adds: “You have to keep rolling and grabbing everything you can get. It will be ten years in July since I had that fall and it’s crazy how quickly time goes by as you get older. When I was lying there in hospital it was a lot more daunting for my family and friends than it was for me as I don’t remember anything about it.
“I was young and I was determined to come out the other side the right way. That’s long behind me now and I’m just looking to get to the next level now.”
Recent events can only help on that score.
• Visit the Dubai Racing Club website
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