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By Ray Hickson

Bezique doesn’t need a whole lot extra to go right for her to notch a deserved stakes win at Grafton on Wednesday but you could forgive the Tony Gollan stable for holding their breath in the last 100m.

After seconds in the Listed Bright Shadow, Helen Coughlan and Gai Waterhouse Classic, the four-year-old aims to go one better in the Listed $200,000 Grafton District Services Club Ramornie Handicap (1200m).

Gollan’s assistant trainer Craig Cavanough said two of the mare’s three seconds on end have been tough to watch as she appeared to have both the Bright Shadow and the Gai Waterhouse Classic in the locker.

“We started high fiving and next minute Aurie’s Angel came from nowhere (in the Bright Shadow), the run behind Chinny Boom was good in the Coughlan and the horse that ran third has placed in a Group 1 since then,’’ Cavanough said.

“It was unbelievable how she got run down at Ipswich, especially when her and Party For Two went at it.

“She fought Party For Two off, you thought she was home and hosed and Wollombi came from nowhere and caught her on the line.”

Bezique, $8.50 with TAB on Tuesday, is a natural on pacer and Cavanough said from a middle barrier it should allow jockey Angela Jones to ride the mare to her strengths.

“She’s drawn better than her stablemate (King Kapa), she’s drawn really well for her so we’re looking forward to her going around,’’ he said.

“She’ll bounce out and take her time getting across. She’s got enough early speed and looking at the first two days at Grafton if you’re not in the first four and close to the fence you’re in a spot of bother.”

Bezique runs second at Ipswich on June 22

From 13 starts, Bezique has four wins and four seconds to her name and a stakes win would be just reward to her owners for their perseverance.

Cavanough revealed there was a time it appeared Bezique may not have made it to the track after a mishap when she was younger.

“She’s lucky to be racing, as a yearling she fractured a knee and she has a couple of screws in her knee,’’ he said.

“But since she’s been racing she’s got a good record and has done a pretty good job for her owners.”

King Kapa returns to Grafton for the first time since his debut win back in 2021 to tackle the Ramornie and he’ll be fourth-up after a year off the scene.

The gelding was beaten 2.2 lengths by Zarastro in the Group 3 Healy Stakes (1200m) at the end of June and Cavanough said he’s going to need a magical steer from Vlad Duric to offset the outside barrier.

“He’s going to need a lot of luck from the alley,’’ he said.

“He had a long time off racing and carries a bit of condition. His last run was really good, he just peaked 100m from the line.

“His jock is riding in a good vein of form at the moment so he might be able to pluck a rabbit out of the hat.”

All the fields, form and replays for Wednesday's Grafton meeting