One to Watch – Cranbourne

Tara Madgwick - Thursday December 29

A short priced favourite by Yarraman Park’s young gun Hellbent, this filly looks well worth following after casting off maiden status with a dominant win at Cranbourne on Thursday bringing a timely pedigree update for her Magic Millions bound half-brother.

Benedetta wins at Cranbourne in some famous colours - image Scott Barbour/ Racing Photos

Trained by Jason Warren and ridden by Daniel Stackhouse, Benedetta caught the eye with her close debut third at Moe on December 9 and ran right up to that performance in this 1200m fillies maiden.

She settled off the pace and when angled into the clear charged past her rivals to win by more than three lengths eased down

Benedetta has a great attitude and looks to be a very straight forward filly with a bright future.

She runs in the famous colours of Laurence Eales that were carried by Melbourne Cup winner Shocking and was a $75,000 Inglis Premier purchase for Eales Racing Syndications from the Mill Park draft.

Advertisement

A half-sister to Group II placed Whatafox, she was bred by Brenton and Liz Parker and is the second winner from Group II placed Domesday mare Whatalovelyday, who comes from the family of Group I winners Leica Guv, Light Fantastic and Pharoah.

Mill Park will offer the current yearling from Whatalovelyday, a colt by Rubick as Lot 544 at Magic Millions and he is pictured below.

Half-brother by Rubick to promising filly Benedetta.

Benedetta is the 20th winner of the season from 70 runners for Hellbent, who is the equal leading second crop sire by winners with Russian Revolution, who also has 20 to his credit, albeit from 90 runners.

Footnote: The next race on the card was won by another Mill Park graduate with four year-old Shooting to Win gelding Shootoose breaking his maiden for the Simon Zahra stable. He was a $100,000 Inglis Premier purchase from Mill Park.

Advertisment

Race Result - Procon Developments Mdn Plate 1200m

Cranbourne Track: Good(3) Time: 1:11.67
1
Benedetta
- 3f Hellbent (AUS) x Whatalovelyday (AUS) (Domesday (AUS))
Tnr: Jason Warren Rdr: D W Stackhouse 57
2
3.5
Queen Of Tuscany
- 3f Fiorente (IRE) x Prospect Royale (AUS) (Royal Academy (USA))
Tnr: R Griffiths & M De Kock Rdr: Carleen Hefel 57
3
5.0
Rolling In It
- 3f Rich Enuff (AUS) x Jeopardy (AUS) (Lonhro (AUS))
Tnr: M Price & M Kent Jnr Rdr: Ethan Brown 57
4
5.1
Three Graces
- 3f Sebring (AUS) x Michaux (AUS) (Redoute's Choice (AUS))
Tnr: L & T Corstens Rdr: Jordan Childs 57
5
6.6
Love Is Easy
- 3f Starcraft (NZ) x McFly (AUS) (Perugino (USA))
Tnr: P G Moody Rdr: B Higgins 57
6
6.7
Golden Shao
- 3f Reward For Effort (AUS) x Shao Shao (AUS) (Shinko Forest (IRE))
Tnr: Simon Zahra Rdr: Chloe Azzopardi 57
7
7.2
Champagne In Lace
- 3f Manhattan Rain (AUS) x Optimizing (AUS) (Exceed And Excel (AUS))
Tnr: Simon Zahra Rdr: Damien Thornton 57
8
8.4
Lilica Ebet
- 3f Ready For Victory (AUS) x Moon Fighter (AUS) (Malibu Moon (USA))
Tnr: K & K Keys Rdr: Thomas Stockdale 57
9
8.5
Our Ecee
- 3f Safeguard (AUS) x Unruffled (AUS) (Nicconi (AUS))
Tnr: D C Harrison Rdr: J Bowditch 57
10
8.7
Stop The Music
- 3f Impending (AUS) x Our Harmony (AUS) (Nadeem (AUS))
Tnr: Simon Zahra Rdr: Zac Spain 57
11
13.7
Terra Rouge
- 3f Territories (IRE) x Red Rapture (AUS) (Red Ransom (USA))
Tnr: A W Noonan Rdr: J Noonan 57
12
14.7
Kauai
- 3f Sacred Falls (NZ) x Akris (NZ) (Zabeel (NZ))
Tnr: M & L Cerchi Rdr: Teodore Nugent 57
More Reading...
Sires With Winners - Friday August 29
Here is the full list of 38 stallions which had winners throughout Australasia today with winners and result details.
Hellbent Mare Wins G3 Cockram
Brilliant Hellbent mare Benedetta has been looking for a stakes win for some time and got the job done in style when resuming from a spell to win the Group III MRC Cockram Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on Saturday.
Damask Rose Looking to Kickstart Te Akau Melbourne Spring
Te Akau Racing are building a strong record in the Gr.3 Cockram Stakes (1200m), and they will look to continue that at Caulfield on Saturday when Damask Rose takes her place in this year’s edition.
SA Thoroughbred Breeders Horse of the Year 23/24 - Benedetta
Classy mare and Group 1 winner Benedetta (Hellbent x Whatalovelyday) was named the SPORTSBET SA Thoroughbred Breeders HORSE OF THE YEAR on Saturday night.
G1 Plan for Kiwi Sprinter Niance
Six-year-old mare Niance will kick off a new campaign when she lines up in the Gr.1 Moir Stakes (1000m) at The Valley on Saturday week.
Promising Winner and a Star on the Rise
One of the bargain priced sires on the Newgate Farm roster, Cosmic Force has never lacked for company covering 100 plus books of mares in each of his five seasons at stud so far totalling nearly 700 mares.
Breeding to Win - 2025 G1 Memsie Stakes
The big guns step out and spring is on in earnest when the Memsie (1400m WFA) rolls around and what a cracking field we have in 2025 for the first G1 of the Southern spring with 11 runners and 10 are G1 winners!
Via Sistina Honoured at NSW Horse of the Year
One of the greatest seasons of all time has secured Via Sistina the TAB NSW Champion Horse of the Year award. The Chris Waller-trained mare was recognised at Racing’s Night of Champions for her outstanding performance in 2024/2025 which included equalling Winx’s record of seven Group 1s in a single season.
One to Watch – Gosford
He’s big and beautiful and it looks like the patient approach might be about to pay off for this talented I Am Invincible four year-old who won on debut at Gosford on Friday.
Stars on Show at Caulfield Spring Opener
The 2025 Victorian Spring Racing Carnival officially bursts out of the gates this Saturday with the Stow Storage Caulfield Spring Opener, headlined by the first Group 1 of the season, the $750,000 Stow Storage Memsie Stakes.