Cover image courtesy of Racing SA and The Rising Sun Photography
Benagil, a daughter of Manhattan Rain hadn’t raced beyond 1600 metres coming into this preparation but had always shown a nice turn of foot evidenced by her two wins over 1200 metres in her debut campaign.
Glen Thompson's first Group 1
The problem was her sprint wouldn’t last long enough when she tackled longer trips – a problem a lot of young horses, particularly fillies, face when graduating from weaker short races - Benagil lacked the stamina to sustain a sprint and run past her rivals from where she settled.
A commendable fifth in the G1 1000 Guineas in the spring showed she wasn’t far off them but we needed to see improvement over the break. We definitely got that improvement. And the market knew too. She was heavily backed first-up when missing a place behind Treasurethe Moment (Alabama Express) but atoned nicely second-up beating the talented Athanatos (I Am Immortal).
She was terrific when closing for second behind Treasurethe Moment in the G1 Vinery Stud Stakes and her dash to the line at Morphettville on Saturday was top class. Her overall time was nearly 6l above standard and her last 200 metres was bang on average meaning this was a genuine rating and she might be able to go quicker.
A charmed result
Around 40 minutes later we saw the talented Charm Stone (I Am Invincible) take out the G1 Robert Sangster Stakes (1200 metres) in a thrilling finish. She beat Ameena (Tassort), both girls were first-up and both can win again this preperation.
Overall time was 4.5l above standard and Charm Stone clocked the best last 1000 metres of the day.
Does this pair go to Queensland? Ameena might be a G1 Stradbroke Handicap prospect given the weight she’d carry but she is more effective at 1200 metres. Perhaps Charm Stone goes to the Goodwood?
Zloties (Snitzel) took out a slowly run G2 Queen Of The South Stakes (1600m). Now 5 from 9, the daughter of Snitzel is airborne as is her trainer Grahame Begg, who is returning more than 30 per cent profit on turnover for punters that have been following him of late.
Runner-up Lady In Pink (Pariah) was only second-up and looks the one to follow. The G2 Centauria Stakes over 2000 metres on May 10 looks perfect for her. She tried to lead on a day where no winner won from inside lane 6 and will be better suited on a track that is favouring the rail.
Revisiting Anzac day
I want to take you back to Friday at Flemington as we saw the VRC St Leger run and won by American Wolf (NZ) (Tivaci), who ran fair time off a moderate tempo. But the highlight of the day was Esternay (All Too Hard) in the BM70 over 1400 metres. She took a maiden win at Cranbourne and upsized it to smashing standard time in a far harder race by more than 3l.
Yet another 3-year-old filly this season that is well above average. Esternay clocked the second-fastest last 1200 metres, suggesting she might get a tad further than 1400 metres.
Randwick didn’t get the rain forecast and therefore the fence was okay on Saturday. The was little doubt the win of the day belong to Victorian visitor Miss Icelandic (Deep Field). She sat off the heavily backed Passeggiata (Winning Rupert) in the BM78 1000-metre contest before producing the best last 200 metres of the meeting to score a victory that smashed the clock. She beat standard time by 7l and surely can win better races than this on soft going?
Another 3-year-old filly to keep an eye on is the Ciaron Maher-trained Silver Wedding (Zoustar), who resumed at Canterbury last Monday.
Previously this daughter of Zoustar had taken on the likes of Dominetta (Zoustar) and Aeliana (NZ) (Castelvecchio) but with some maturity she appears to have blossomed. She beat standard time for Canterbury maidens by nearly 4l and clocked the best last 400 metres and 200 metres of the day with a monster win. Put her in your blackbook.
Looking ahead
This Saturday is the SA Derby and hopefully some of you took the early price about Benagil. There’s no standout here like her but I thought the run of Saint Emilion (Snitzel) was much better last Saturday when he found a dry track. Suspect if it stays dry, he’ll give some cheek at double figure odds this week.
