Golden Slipper day sees Beskar pull off slight shock

Anthony Freedman entered the Darby Munro Stakes without high hopes for Beskar, but he considered the three-year-old's "stupid odds" to be overly generous.

The gelding, sent out at $81 as the second roughest in the field, surprised punters by tracking the leaders and fending off Agarwood ($19) along with the fast-finishing Caffe Florian ($12).

"To be fair, he should never have been that. He did run third in a Group Three last start, so $80 is probably ridiculous," Freedman said.

"It's still a bit of a surprise.

"He's a horse that's got good talent. He does a lot wrong and makes a mess of a few races, but it all went (well) for him today.

"He ran third in the Kindergarten Stakes here last year, so maybe this works better for him, in Sydney."

At his sophomore appearance, Beskar earned third in the Kindergarten Stakes (1100m), followed by patchy performances through winter and spring, yet he recently posted a promising third behind Pallaton in Caulfield's Zeditave Stakes (1200m).

According to Freedman, Beskar's potential was always evident despite recurring minor problems, and it demanded time to develop the right training approach.

"He's sound now, and we train him very differently," Freedman said.

"We don't do any work with him. It takes a while to work some horses out.

"He's one of those horses who is never one hundred per cent. You get him as good as he can be and keep him happy and don't work him."

Saturday's Darby Munro Stakes (1200m) conqueror could head to the Group 2 Arrowfield 3YO Sprint (1200m) at Randwick on April 11, though Freedman hasn't settled on plans yet.

"I hadn't looked that far. We will think about it," he said.

Autumn Glow stands out among past Darby Munro Stakes champions, taking the prize a year ago.

Find the leading online bookmakers offering odds for the Darby Munro Stakes.