Beiwacht Wins Golden Rose in Record-Breaking Time

The Chris Waller-trained Beiwacht (AUS) emulated his sire Bivouac (AUS) when winning the Golden Rose Stakes (G1) Sept. 27 in a record-breaking time, handing Godolphin a first group 1 since the operation made the decision to switch to a public training model. Beiwacht's time of 1:20.79 smashed the previous track record of 1:21.22 held by Cepheus (Sea The Stars (IRE)) leading to Waller to say he was 'humbled' to deliver Sheikh Mohammed's new-look set-up its first winner at the highest level. Considered the third string of Waller's four runners in the Rosehill highlight, Beiwacht took up the running for Adam Hyeronimus and emphatically dispelled pre-race concerns over his ability to stretch to 1,400 meters by running out a 4.1-length winner over stablemate Wodeton (Wootton Bassett), who delivered his fourth second-placed finish and second in the highest company. Godolphin's other runner, filly Tempted (AUS) (Street Boss), who came into the race off the back of a victory over the Sept. 27 winner in the Run To The Rose (G2), was another 0.2 lengths away in third. "Godolphin has been an amazing story for Australia and they've been my biggest competitor for so many years consistently in these big races, the stallion-making races," Waller said. "We had four great colts in the race and unfortunately there is only one winner." A winner of the Silver Slipper Stakes (G2) under the tutelage of James Cummings as a 2-year-old, Beiwacht finished ninth in the 2024 Todman Stakes (G2) and down the field in the Golden Slipper (G1), his final start as a juvenile. Godolphin is yet to fill their slot for The Everest (G1) this year and managing director Andy Makiv said it is now between Beiwacht and Tempted. "Three weeks in is a really good lead-up for either Beiwacht or Tempted to go back to the 1,200 meters," Makiv said. "They seem to be our logical choices and really our only choices." In winning the 1,400-meter contest, Beiwacht becomes Godolphin's seventh winner of the time-honored Sydney group 1, joining not only his father Bivouac, who won it in 2019, but an illustrious list of the operation's horses which includes last year's winner Broadsiding (AUS) (Too Darn Hot (GB)) and Astern (AUS) (Medaglia d'Oro). Out of Sheikh Mohammed's homebred stakes winner Metastasio, Beiwacht is a half brother to listed winner Gravina. The colt's second dam is Libretto, the dam of dual group 1 winner Collette. Godolphin sold Metastasio for AU$110,000 to Hirsch Racing at the Magic Millions Gold Coast National Broodmare Sale in 2024, when carrying a filly by Microphone (AUS). She was most recently covered by Woodside Stud shuttler Benbatl (GB) (Dubawi (IRE)). Beiwacht is the headline act of three stakes winners for Darley's second-season sire Bivouac, whose total number of winners stands at 12. He is standing for a fee of an unchanged fee of AU$55,000 (inc GST). Prior to his second-placed finish in the Run To The Rose, the colt opened his 3-year-old preparation by running third in the San Domenico Stakes (G3) at Rosehill in August. Waller said he was confident the horse could make his group 1 breakthrough, having continued to mature. "We've had confidence the horse has continued to mature," Waller said. "What struck us the most today, he was so calm and relaxed. He is a proper racehorse. "He's got good looks, he's got proper 2-year-old form, and he's backed it up at 3."