Bouncing back from 2 surgeries, N.S. racehorse Beach Glass wins final races of season

A Nova Scotia racehorse who was sired by the legendary Somebeachsomewhere capped a stellar season that saw him recover from surgery to win his final two races of the season last month.

Beach Glass won seven of the first 11 races this year, accumulating more than $1,000,000 in earnings.

But his season stalled when he was diagnosed with an entrapped epiglottis in early October.

This occurs when a piece of tissue in the horse's throat becomes inflamed and gets stuck over the top of the epiglottis. This narrows the horse's airway and affects their breathing.

It took two surgeries for the problem to be resolved, said Brent MacGrath, Beach Glass's owner and trainer.

MacGrath, from Truro, N.S., also owned and trained Somebeachsomewhere, who won 20 of 21 starts during his two-year racing career that ended in 2008.

Beach Glass resumed his season Nov. 16 at Dover Downs in Delaware, winning a $35,000 US elimination race. This set the stage for the Progress Pace final, a $250,000 US race a week later.

MacGrath said Beach Glass wasn't fully conditioned for the races, but he was confident the horse would be ready.

"They're like good athletes," he said. "They overcome and forget about their problems and do their job and he does his job very well and likes it."

Also, the race's draw wasn't advantageous for Beach Glass. He started in the seventh slot from the inside.

"The closer to the inside you are, the less energy usually you have to use to get up to the front of the pack or close to the front of the pack," he said.

The conditions were better for rival Pebble Beach, who started third from the inside.

"The perfect race for a horse, going for big money, is to sit in the two-hole and follow the best horse until halfway down the stretch and come out and go by him," said MacGrath.

Three-quarters of the way into the race, Pebble Beach was in first. But on the final turn, Beach Glass made his final push and pulled ahead, winning comfortably.

Vacation time

Beach Glass is back in Nova Scotia for some rest and relaxation. MacGrath said he isn't sure whether Beach Glass will spend the winter here or in Florida.

But unlike his sire, Beach Glass will race as a four-year-old and then follow in the steps of Somebeachsomewhere and became a stallion at a stud farm.

MacGrath said that of the 1,073 horses Somebeachsomewhere sired before his death in 2018, 990 of them raced. The combined earnings of these horses was close to $180 million, as of May.

And how does Beach Glass compare to his siblings?

"His overall earnings, you know, he's a ways down the list," said MacGrath.

That's because Beach Glass hasn't yet raced in his four-year-old season, said MacGrath.

But if you look at it from a per-race standpoint, MacGrath said Beach Glass probably has the highest average.

He said he's grateful for how the careers of Somebeachsomewhere — often called Beach — and Beach Glass turned out.

"You can do everything right and it not turn out the way it turned out with either Beach or Beach Glass," said MacGrath.

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