Beau's Back In Pursuit Of Bob Payne Redemption

RESURGENT sprinter Overflow Beau will look to rubber stamp his inspiring return to racing when he tackles a quality field in Saturday night's Group 3 Bob Payne Sprint (520m) at Wentworth Park.

The multiple big race winner landed his heat of the group 3 feature last Saturday night in 29.99, the performance just his sixth run back since spending six-months on the sidelines with a career threatening back muscle injury.

Remarkably, the son of Fernando Bale's eye-catching heat success was his sixth straight run from box eight, while his three previous efforts were from box seven.

FIELDS AND FORM WENTWORTH PARK SATURDAY NIGHT

"I actually joked with the stewards before the heats that if we qualified for the final we might have a chance of finally moving away from the eight being a banjo draw," trainer Craig Chappelow quipped.

"And we did. We've got box five which I'm not too unhappy with. I didn't want him from the red or the eight. A little closer to the fence would have been better but the five isn't too bad the way things have fallen."

Not one to lament box draws, Chappelow is just happy to have his star chaser back at the races.

After running a flying 29.35 in a heat of the Bob Payne last year, Overflow Beau finished third to Zipping Megatron in the final before going on a group race rampage, winning the Brother Fox at Dubbo before downing a class field in the lucrative State Of Origin Sprint at Albion Park.

But just a few months later heartbreak set in, with the 16-time winner going amiss in a trial at Wentworth Park in the countdown to the city qualifiers of the Million Dollar Chase.

"He dislocated his toe in the Goulburn qualifier so we got him ready for the city qualifiers instead but he went amiss on the Monday before in a trial," Chappelow said.

"It happened at a time where he was really hitting his peak and all the big races were coming around. 

"Watching a lot of the big races during that time wasn't easy, you can become the forgotten dog pretty quickly.

"We took it really slow and steady with his return and he's starting to come to hand now. It's just one step at a time."

When Chappelow ramped up Overflow Beau's return to racing, early trials suggested that the regally bred chaser had actually improved during his time on the sidelines.

"He'd always run me 22.40 at Bulli over 400m but his first go back this time he went 22.20," Chappelow said.

"His trials were as good as we'd ever seen from him. The problem was though in his first five runs back his first split wasn't there.

"He just wasn't showing the acceleration we'd come to expect from him. I questioned whether the injury was causing it and some good judges told me I just needed to ride through it.

"They explained that the muscle he injured needed to become accustomed to be used again and Saturday night's heat was a big step in the right direction.

"He's getting his confidence back and with now six race starts he's getting back to what we expect."

Overflow Beau is quoted a $3.90 chance for Saturday night's decider just behind $3.70 favourite Trio Of Clowns drawn in box four.

And while not looking too far ahead, Chappelow is hopeful of following a similar path with his gifted charge to last year.

"All going well we'll go back to defend the Brother Fox next week and after that look to Brisbane," Chappelow said.

"The Chief Havoc at Gunnedah is also a consideration. It would be great to get to Brisbane again, he loved Albion Park but I see no reason why The Q would be any different.

"Hopefully being the defending champ earns him some points with the State Of Origin selectors.

"With dogs like Jungle Johnny, Power And Glory and Good Odds Cobber it's going to be a very strong NSW team."