Ralph Beckett reveals 'frustration' at reputation with fillies - and the colt who allowed him to shake it off

A pair of superstar females have flown the flag for Ralph Beckett this season, yet the trainer has credited his remarkable progress in the last couple of years to shaking off his reputation as a trainer of fillies – and largely puts that down to one of his least heralded Group 1 winners.

Beckett was speaking to the Racing Post for a major interview in Sunday's newspaper in which he discussed his prospects for next week's Ebor meeting at York, the story of his first Breeders' Cup winner and his perilous early days as a trainer when survival from one year to the next was the only aim.

Beckett has acknowledged the huge role played by his 2008 Oaks winner Look Here in changing all that, but he pinpoints a couple of later events as being key to his current level of success.

"The biggest shift was that for a long time I was seen as a fillies-only trainer, and when that changed, everything changed," he said.

"It never bothered me being a trainer of fillies because I always felt it was better being known for something rather than nothing, but it did bother me that one of our major owners didn't send me any colts at all. Even colts out of mares I'd trained were going elsewhere and that slightly frustrated me, but then came the key moments."

Ralph Beckett: enjoyed his best ever year in 2023, with 133 winners and more than £4 million in prize-moneyCredit: Edward Whitaker

In 2015, Juddmonte sent yearlings to Beckett for the first time. Then, in 2021, Angel Bleu won two Group 1s in the autumn as a two-year-old. While he failed to hit those heights again subsequently, winning just twice in ten races at three and four, he had already done his bit for Beckett, proving he could be just as effective with colts as fillies.

"On the back of Angel Bleu came Westover," he explained, referring to his 2022 Irish Derby winner in Juddmonte's colours. "They happened within eight months of each other and that was a sea change."

Beckett enjoyed his best ever year in 2023, with 133 winners and more than £4 million in prize-money, and he has kept up the momentum this year, with Group 1 wins for Bluestocking and You Got To Me.

"It's such an obvious thing to say, but when you're getting up in the morning and the press are here and you can point to any number of really decent horses that are still on the road, holding their level or on an upward curve, it makes a big difference. To be involved in all the big-race conversations for the rest of the year, to have runners every day of Ascot and Goodwood and York, is terrific."

Read more from Ralph Beckett in The Big Read, available in Sunday's newspaper or online for Members' Club Ultimate subscribers from 6pm on Saturday. Click here to sign up.

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