Beckett ‘Happy’ With Secret Gesture

Trainer Ralph Beckett was on hand to watch his GI Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf contender Secret Gesture (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) gallop over Keeneland’s training track Wednesday morning, and the conditioner said he is pleased with how his charge has handled the trip from Britain.

“I’m happy with the way she traveled over and how she worked this morning,” Beckett said. The Qatar Racing and Newsells Park-owned 5-year-old is making her first start since she was disqualified from victory in the GI Beverly D. S. Aug. 15, and Beckett said the G2 Middleton S. winner needed the time between starts.

“I thought about going back for the Flower Bowl or the E.P. Taylor, but she wasn’t quite right and hadn’t got over Arlington,” he explained. “It was a minor blip, and the main thing is that she knew she had won.”

While the rain persisted in Lexington Wednesday, Beckett indicated softer going wouldn’t bother Secret Gesture. “She’s a very athletic filly who can handle fast ground, but the evidence of the form book suggests she handles the soft and that’s certainly relevant in this instance,” he noted. Beckett also said Secret Gesture’s extreme-outside draw in gate 12 shouldn’t be a problem. “She was drawn wide last time and it’s a very similar scenario with a long run to the first bend,” he said. “It just might suit us.”

Secret Gesture will be ridden for the first time by U.S.-based Frenchman Florent Geroux, and Beckett said of the assignment, “[regular rider] Andrea Atzeni had come to the end of his contract with the owners, and we all agreed on Florent. He’s riding well and won the [GI] Arlington Million on The Pizza Man. He is a former champion apprentice in France.”