Puli wins emotional Beaufine Stakes as racing fans mourn popular gelding Nerodio

Heartbreak overwhelmed what, on any ordinary day, would have been a terrific triumph for Puli in Saturday’s $125,000 Listed Beaufine Stakes (1000m) at Belmont. Puli captured his greatest victory and rewarded not only a stunning training performance by Meryl Hayley, but a spirited betting plunge as well. Unfortunately, the race was dampened by Nerodio, a two-time Beaufine winner who looked certain to create history and win a third, falling with a catastrophic injury with just 100m remaining. Puli, who was slammed by punters late in betting from $26 down to $12 on TABtouch, scorched across to lead from gate five with Nerodio ($12) covering the move into second place and receiving a lovely slipstream. Man Crush ($3.70), while settling third, couldn’t compete with the lightning pace set up front and Minsk Moment ($3.90) was well back in proceedings. Approaching the turn, Puli showed no signs of stopping but had done little to shake Nerodio, who jockey Jarrad Noske hadn’t flinched upon. At the 300m, Nerodio moved up to take Puli and looked destined to win the race with the rest failing to land any telling blows. When Nerodio departed the race with 100m left, Puli was left clear and went home to salute by more than two lengths from Man Crush. Given the virtually unheralded scenes, onlookers were left speechless and rivals riders turned their attentions to the fan favourite who could not be saved. Among them was Laqdar Ramoly, the partner of Nerodio for Beaufine Stakes wins in 2021 and 2022, and winning rider aboard Puli to give the 28-year-old yet another Listed victory. Winning trainer Meryl Hayley must be lauded for her training performance with Puli, though she was clearly touched by empathy for trainer Stephanie Bakranich’s ill-fated horse. “It’s absolutely devastating, to be honest,” Hayley said. “It’s not the way you want to win a race - my horse was probably going to run second and after Nerodio fell, I actually stopped watching Puli. “I’m super proud and obviously Lucky (Laqdar Ramoly) rode him a treat. “Like I said, under normal circumstances, it would’ve been amazing. “I’m actually quite good friends with Stephanie, so I’m feeling for her. “He’d gone sailing past us and had it in the bag.” Puli boosted his earnings to $364,000 with nine wins from 37 starts, having won seven races at 1200m and two at 1000m. “He’s obviously limited now - he was a 1200m horse but we had trouble with his breathing so we can’t seem to get him past 1000m these days,” Hayley said. “It becomes harder now that he’s won a Listed race and will be up in grade. “The pattern of the day played out for him being a front-runner and Bayezid, who I thought would challenge for the lead, missing the kick. “It’s just very, very bittersweet.” Fortunately, Nerodio’s jockey Jarrad Noske escaped with muscle and soft tissue injuries, while Nerodio had suffered a fractured off-fore fetlock and near knee. Nerodio will be fondly remembered for longevity, which is rarely exhibited in modern day thoroughbreds, and his winning essence. Also among his 11 successes was a triumph in the 2022 Listed Belmont Newmarket and, although he had not won a race since, seldom had he been far away from the placings. This consistency and durability across all track surfaces had earned the rising nine-year-old a loyal following from Western Australian punters, who join trainer Stephanie Bakranich and connections in missing the noble gelding sorely.