Rattray Seeks Another Win in The Beautide with Nyack

TOP Tassie trainer Todd Rattray would love history to repeat itself.

Rattray had “the experience of a lifetime” when he won last year’s $80,000 The Beautide in Hobart with stable star Magician and went on to run slashing fourth in the world’s richest harness race, the $2.1mil TAB Eureka.

Stablemate Nyack ran fifth in the last year’s inaugural Beautide as a raw three-year-old and returns a much more mature and complete racehorse for Saturday night’s feature in Hobart.

“Last year was so amazing. The best experience of my career,” he said. “Magician ran so well. It was great for our industry down here, not just our stable.”

Since last year’s Beautide, Nyack has raced 13 times for eight wins and five seconds.

“He’s really come on since his late three-year-old season,” Rattray said. “He had those few free-for-all runs and ran second to Magician in a couple of them and he’s won his past three.

“He’s right at his top, but it’s a strong race and the draw hasn’t been kind.”

Nyack will start from inside the back row (eight) with key rivals like De Goey (seven) and Fighter Command (two) off the front row.

“At least it’s a small field,” Rattray said. “I’ve watched Fighter Command a lot. He’s a real talent, but still a bit raw. If he puts it all together, he’s the horse to beat for sure.

“De Goey’s run was huge in the Raider Stakes to get as close to Nyack as he did and he’s right in it, too.

“It’s a good race, but you’d expect it to be for the money and what it means if you win it.

“It’s so great we have an avenue into a race like the TAB Eureka in Tassie. The race has really captured everyone’s interest, especially after Magician ran so well last year.”

The extra layer of sentiment for Rattray in Saturday night’s race is the fact it’s named after his family’s greatest horse and the best Tassie has produced for at least the past two decades, Beautide.

“Beau was an incredible horse to us and it means a lot to have this race named after him. It’s great his legacy lives on, especially with the connection to Menangle as well,” Rattray said.

Beautide won 49 of his 81 starts and banked almost $2.2 million. His major wins were all at Menangle, including successive Inter Dominion final wins in 2014 & ’15 and the 2013 Miracle Mile.

Magician winning The Beautide