Wherever Tony Aceti's horses are racing, the owner is usually right there with them.
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That wasn't the case a fortnight ago when Aceti had horses racing at the Tamworth Jockey Club.
The owner was resting up following surgery and had to watch Beckford win from home rather than the track but Sunday has made up for that.
Aceti was there to watch his four-year-old gelding win the Armidale Cup at the Tamworth Jockey Club and then revel in the victory with trainer Troy O'Neile and jockey Mikayla Weir.
An excited Aceti was thrilled with the win and what the future holds for Beckford.
"He's a very versatile horse, a very good horse," Aceti said.
"Nothing bothers him and I think he's got a long way to go. He's only a four-year-old and has already won seven races."
Beckford tracked the eventual third-placegetter - William Freedman's La Tigresa - down the straight before getting to the outside.
The gelding powered home to beat Stirling Osland's Point Counterpoint by just over half a length.
"He's a good horse and it's great to see him win, he deserves it," O'Neile said after the race.
Shifted to the TJC after the Armidale track was "deemed unsuitable for racing" following rainfall, the Armidale Cup was also shortened from 1900m to 1600m.
Pre-race, O'Neile admitted to being a bit worried by the race being shortened by 300 metres.
"I worked the guts out of him this week to go the 1900 and I thought 'I've got him too dour for the mile'," the Tamworth trainer said.
But that wasn't the case.
"That was the task - like we said in our interview the other day - to go to the Armidale cup and win it. It ended up coming to Tamworth and being a mile but he still turned up," O'Neile said.
"He was too good on the day. Too big, too strong."
While the meeting wasn't held in Armidale there was success for one trainer from the town.
Along with his second in the cup, Osland grabbed a double on the day.
Buffet Buster scored in the Maiden Showcase Handicap (1400m) while Golden Point took out the Class 2 Showcase Handicap (1200m).
Meanwhile, Tamworth trainer Cody Morgan also scored a double.
Ice In Vancouver held out two of O'Neile's horses - Cassy's Sister and Lord Tony - to win the Armidale Newmarket Handicap (1000m) before Chelsea Reign took out the BM58 Showcase Handicap (1000m).
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Ben Jaffrey
Ben is a content curator and journalist for The Land. He has been with ACM since 2015 and first worked at The Area News and then at the Northern Daily Leader. Ben first joined ACM Agri as a digital journalist for all seven agricultural mastheads in 2022 before shifting to The Land full-time in 2023.
Ben is a content curator and journalist for The Land. He has been with ACM since 2015 and first worked at The Area News and then at the Northern Daily Leader. Ben first joined ACM Agri as a digital journalist for all seven agricultural mastheads in 2022 before shifting to The Land full-time in 2023.
