As Overflow Beau prepares for another tilt at the Ladbrokes Brother Fox series this weekend in Dubbo, it’d be easy for punters to write him off.
After all, the Craig Chappelow-prepared runner hasn’t raced since July, has only had 10 starts this calendar year, and last tasted victory way back in April.
“He’s sort of been forgotten about a little bit because of some injuries but he did win this race in May last year,” Chappelow said.
That’s right.
Overflow Beau is already on the honour board of Dubbo’s most iconic feature after beating kennelmate Embrace home in the 2024 Group 2 decider.
And after drawing relatively well in Heat 1 of the series on Saturday night, Chappelow isn’t without hope despite the lack of racing for ‘Beau’.
“He knows the track really well after going through the first Brother Fox series earlier this year as well…it’s just a hard race to come back into,” he said.
“I wanted him to draw inside so Box 3 will help a little bit. There is a fair bit of pace in Box 1 and 2 though and I don’t think he can lead them out, so he’ll need to be sitting on them through the first bend to have a hope.”
“Dubbo is a track that favours on speed runners and I’m hoping the three heats might help him qualify for the final because he’ll be improving into next week, that’s for sure.”
At his best, Overflow Beau was one of the stars of the NSW sprinting ranks.
The son of Fernando Bale x Sweet City Woman made seven group finals last year and claimed the State Of Origin sprint ahead of Good Odds Cobber.
He was a 29.35 dog at Wentworth Park and seemingly primed for a big tilt at the Million Dollar Chase - then the injuries started to pile up.
Overflow Beau with Craig Chappelow behind has won more than $315,000 in prizemoney
Combined, ‘Beau’ has essentially been on the sidelines for 11 of the last 14 months.
Chappelow hopeful he can finish his career in style with some consistent racing from here on out.
“He’s all set for the trip to Dubbo and has been trialling pretty well, he said.
“He’s had a few runs over the shorts at Richmond, he had a box to box at Wenty and he should be strong enough to out 500m at Dubbo this weekend.”
“The start is all important…when he first came back at Wenty after his big break earlier this year, he was running 5.70 to the first mark and that wouldn’t lead a maiden. Now he’s getting back to 5.50 sort of times and he’ll need to go that quick to have a chance in a group race like the Brother Fox.”
Chappelow also has Crazed going around in Heat 3 of the $40,000-to-the-winner series.
“He’s a smart dog on his day but he can be a bit inconsistent,” he added.
“He’s very quick early, he’s only been over the 300 and 400 at Dubbo and hasn’t been out of the 500 boxes yet but he can jump so Dubbo might suit him.”
“He’s been trialling with ‘Beau’ and Crazed has kept showing more early pace early but ‘Beau’ is the stronger of the two and has been finishing the better.”
Crazed is an eight-time winner for Chappelow
“I give them both a chance but neither are fully wound up for Saturday so I’ll be rapt if they get through. I’m not saying they’re not ready for 500 yet but just not having a lot of racing lately might work against them.”
Three heats of the Ladbrokes Brother Fox will kick off in Race 6 (7:54pm) on Saturday night at Dubbo. The top two from each heat, as well as the two fastest thirds, will advance to the final on November 22.
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