BEAUTY'S FORTE -- A GREAT CAMPAIGNER
--by Jackie Cowan
Beauty's Forte ran his last race on the turf at Bandon on 30th July. Looking a picture, in his ninth season in West Cork, he gave it his all, but finished out of the frame. At 14, Beauty's Forte still loved racing, enjoyed his day out and fretted at home when stable-mates went off to the races.
Beauty's Forte, by Fleet Decision out of Stoneriggs Beauty, as well as U.S. bloodlines, also had N.Z. back breeding. Early in 1993, Beauty's Forte arrived in West Cork, on foot of a successful career over the water. His owners, Donal Ross (also his trainer), Robert Deane Michael Healy and John Ross, formed the Dunmanway Racing Club.
The early nineties were one of West Cork's golden eras of trotting, and Beauty's Forte's rivals included Limed Hazard, Just An Angel, H. Adios, Saunders Spirit and Blackwell Peter. But he came, he saw, he conquered, and went on, in his long career, to take on other greats, such as Red Meadows.
In April of 1993, in his third local race, he won the Open Harness at Central Track, driven by Sam Jennings, and in June, racing under saddle for the first time, and with John McSweeney up, he won the Grade B at Dunmanway. That year, Beauty's Forte won both the All-Ireland Saddle and the All-Ireland harness.
To give a full list of all his wins and titles, both in saddle and in harness, would prove too lengthy, and probably be inaccurate as well! But he won them all. One year, he won the Grand Prix and the Irish Trotting Cup (Micheal Duggan) at Ballabuidhe; he won a couple of Laddies, one with Michael Williamson, and another, in a memorable race, when, with Noreen McSweeney, they pipped stable-mate, Black Velvet, at the post. In 1995, with Christopher O'Reilly, he won the inaugural West Cork Saddle Championship on the testing course at Drimoleague.
Like many great racehorses, Beauty's Forte occasionally had a day when he did not want to know, but it was a rare enough day indeed. He was very competitive, enjoyed the tussle, and the tougher it got, the better he seemed to like it. He was a turf specialist, but acted well on the track, too, as many rivals found to their cost.
Beauty's Forte is to spend the rest of his days at Donal Ross's yard in Dunmanway, where he will be joined, in due course, by that other great stalwart, Black Velvet.