Bekim Rose's untapped potential and advice from the world's leading breeders resulted in owners Chris Nutt and Shaun Evans breeding from her and thus obtaining Rockstar Beav (pictured), fastest qualifier for Friday night's group 1 Richmond Derby final.
Rockstar Beav scored his fifth win from his past six starts in taking out his heat last Friday in 30.35, while the other 535m heat winners were Uno Fabio and Lagoon Rhett in 30.45 and Slingshot Hammer in 30.48.
Rockstar Beav is a member of the first litter whelped by Bekim Rose, who had only three starts for a single win.
"Shaun Evans and I owned Bekim Rose and her trainer Andrea Dailly had a massive opinion of her,'' Rockstar Beav's trainer Chris Nutt said.
"Bekim Rose was a litter sister to our good stayers Love Affair and Starc but was much faster.
"Unfortunately after she won her first start beyond a sprint distance, over 600m at The Meadows in June, 2014, Bekim Rose broke a hock and had to be retired.
"Shaun and I have long been friends with the world famous breeders the Wheeler family, and they advised us to breed from Bekim Rose because they were convinced daughters of Bekim Bale made good brood bitches.
"The beauty of Rockstar Beav is that he keeps improving.
"If anyone had suggested to us a few weeks back he would be fastest qualifier for a group 2 final I would have told them they had rocks in their head, but that's how quickly Rockstar Beav has progressed.
"He has box eight in the final and if it was a normal fifth grade I would not be concerned, but in a hot field like the Derby final he could find himself in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"In Rockstar Beav's favour though is that he is not a one trick pony, he can come from behind or make the pace.
"He has been beginning better in recent weeks and his run home time in his Derby heat was 14.92sec, which is simply sensational.''
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ANTHONY Azzopardi trained the 2017 Richmond Derby winner Nangar Flame but believes drawing box five with Uno Fabio has diminished his prospects of taking out the big race for a second time.
Uno Fabio, who Azzopardi has always rated "far quicker'' than Nangar Flame, had box one when he won his Derby heat in 30.42sec.
"Getting box five in the final is a bit of a letdown,'' Azzopardi said.
"Uno Fabio does not have a lot of early speed and want to veer hard left, looking for the rails, as soon as he jumps.
"I feel sorry for the dog drawn in box four.
"But Unl Fabio has a big motor and if he can get a crack at them in the final, despite box five, he will be hard to beat.''
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PETER Lagogiane, whose wife JODIE took out the inaugural Million Dollar Chase with Mystic Riot at Wentworth Park in October, has that greyhound along with Set To Storm in Friday night's final of the group 2 Ladbrokes Richmond Oaks.
Mystic Riot's 30.40sec effort for the 535m set the time standard in last Friday's heats, with Set To Storm clocking a slick 30.54 and the Jason Mackay-trained Zipping Bailey also stopping the clock at 30.54.
"Set To Storm has box six and Mystic Riot seven in the final and they are drawn okay providing they do not get in each other's way,'' Peter Lagogiane said.
"Following her win in the Million Dollar Chase on October 20, Mystic Riot won in a fast 29.30 at Sandown but then fell over in a race.
"We rushed her preparation to get her ready for the group 1 Paws Of Thunder heats at Wentworth Park on January 12 but she ran a poor race.
"Because of that I gave her a break and brought her back to her home track, Richmond, for the Oaks series, and she produced the goods.
"Set To Storm looked like being a champion early in her career but she snapped a tendon in a back leg and has had to be lightly raced.
"She went into her Oaks heat very fresh, and she seems to like to race that way.
"Set To Storm and Mystic Riot have great chances but the one to beat could be Cosmic Blend, who has box one.
"She is trained by a great family friend Mark Wilcox, who is a very under-rated trainer.''
