Beheshtam - Remember This Name

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By ARSENE ABITBOL - 26 May 2009 - 21.12 pm

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''Bey - Hesh - Tam''. A word of advice : Remember the name. When H.R.H Aga Khan in person attends midweek racing at Longchamp - otherwise known as 'Le Temple du Galop' - you wonder why..now we know. Surely, The Prince knows he might hold a special horse in Beheshtam, and understandably so, was eager to see the colt's performance in today's main fixture, the 55,000 € Listed-Race Prix de l'Avre.


A fortnight ago, he made his debut at Maisons-Laffitte over the long distance of thirteen furlongs - 2,600m -, in a 34,000 € prize. Poised at the back of the field, he cantered to make headway and quickly asserted to bag a very comfy win. A few hours ago, he outgunned smart Claremont in a finish that developed into a sprint. The Peintre Célèbre colt already demonstrated an usual amount of stamina and today he showed us he was able to produce a deadly turn of foot in the closing stages of a valuable contest.



It's all very well to land a Listed-Race but it's even better to evaluate the form that's behind this success. In a nutshell, here is the opposition Beheshtam was facing today :

Claremont; André Fabre-trained, fourth run, third in a Gr II last time out, Galilei two victories to date and fourth outing as well. Acteur Célèbre, third appearance and third in a Listed Race last time out. Finally, Mojave Moon, fourth outing, one victory on the clock and World Heritage with a similar scoring sheet.

Needless to say that all opponents are progressive types, trained by leading French trainers, carry excellent breeding and have a bright future ahead of them. Notably, this Prix de l'Avre was a coveted trophy since all contestants were either owned by Prince Abdullah, the Wildenstein Family , H.R.H Aga Khan, the De Moussac family or Sheikh Mohammed. Except World Heritage, all competitors have twice as much racing experience as Beheshtam. Still, he manages to defeat them. It's not so much the winning margin that's telling; actually it isn't because he won by a short-head. It's the way he stamped his authority. Had there been thirty more yards, he would have scored by a good length at least. It's all the more remarkable since they went at a pedestrian pace - 2'38''40 - and when a slowly run race unfolds, the worst position you can think of is being the back marker. Beheshtam was the back marker!


Trainer Alain de Royer-Dupré was rather impressed and so was his breeder-owner. Interviewed on Equidia, stable jockey Christophe Soumillon '' We were facing tough competitors today and that was definitely a step up in class, I tried to get him to settle down at the back and from there I knew I had the race under control. I knew I had enough left in the tank to get them. He gives his best when able to go from last to first. We might race him over a shorter distance, perhaps 2,000 m - 10 furlongs - but it could prove too short a journey. I believe he's a genuine twelve furlongs-horse and is a Grand Prix de Paris - Gr I for 3 y-o staged in Mid July at Longchamp - , truly promising but still needs to learn his job'' was impressed too!


Now the Grand Prix de Paris is nothing but a major Arc trial. The line-up is made up of the smartest three-year-old colts and fillies around and it can be considered as a French late Derby. This race is a very tough heat and has thrown up the likes of Peintre Célèbre, Beat Hollow, Bago, Scorpion, Rail Link, Montmartre... See what I'm talking about? So, when you hear three-time Champion Jockey Soumillon's comments...you know...!

Until then ''He is now going for the Prix du Lys on June 14'' - Gr III, 2,400m at Longchamp won by former stablemate Montmartre in 2008 - ''What he's done today was very hard because there wasn't any pace'', said De Royer Dupré, live on French channel Equidia.

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Sources : TV -French Horseracing Channel : Equidia. Website : http://www.equidia.fr - http://www.racingpost.com - http://www.wikipedia.org.

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