Benaud Chasing First Stakes Success

Media Release - Thursday April 20

John O’Shea is hopeful Benaud can return to winning form when he lines-up in the Listed Mornington Cup (2400m) on Saturday.

While he has been Group placed on several occasions, including runner-up in the Gr.1 Australian Derby (2400m), the son of Reliable Man hasn’t won since his debut over 1400m two years ago and O’Shea is keen to rectify that this weekend.

Benaud wins his maiden at Nowra - image Bradley Photography

“We are happy with how he is going,” O’Shea told RSN.

“He has only run in three or four races where he was a genuine winning chance in the sense of right trip, right track scenarios.

“This preparation, the first time he was a winning chance was in the Chairman’s  (Gr.2, 2600m) and he copped a Heavy10 and it was a very biased track on the day and he was in the wrong part of it.

“He will get into a race on Saturday where he is a good winning chance because he is a good mile-and-a-half horse and he will map pretty well. I think he will give a good account of himself.”

Out of prolific producer Baggy Green, Benaud is a half-brother to Group One winners Tofane and No Compromise.

O’Shea purchased Benaud out of Valachi Downs’ 2020 New Zealand Bloodstock Book 1 Yearling Sale draft for $280,000 in partnership with Laurel Oak Bloodstock.

O’Shea is also looking forward to racing at Hawkesbury on Saturday, where New Zealand-bred filly Avebury will contest the Gr.3 Hawkesbury Guineas (1400m).

Advertisement

The daughter of Savabeel has won two races to date, including the Listed Canberra Guineas (1400m) and O’Shea is keen to add another stakes win to her tally this weekend.

“Avebury has drawn a bit awkwardly (10). She is a filly that copped a heavy track the other day and could quite easily bounce back,” he said.

Meanwhile, O’Shea has been pleased with the way Lost And Running has bounced through his unplaced run un the Gr.1 All-Aged Stakes (1400m) and is looking forward to taking the Per Incanto six-year-old to the Queensland Winter Carnival.

“From what was a torrid day for him, he is thriving at the beach now,” O’Shea said.

“We are just desperate to get him back on top of the ground from a nice barrier. He is at the beach now for a fortnight and then he will come back for a trial.

“He can then go to Queensland for the Kingsford-Smith (Gr.1, 1300m) and see if we can turn things around.

“We are really happy with how he is going, we will just draw a line through last Saturday and give him another chance in a month or two.” – NZ Racing Desk

Advertisment
More Reading...
First Southern Hemisphere foals for Paddington
A four-time Group I winner by champion French sire Siyouni, European superstar, PADDINGTON, has had his first Southern Hemisphere foals arrive on the ground at Windsor Park.
Narrow Miss for Hellbent Gelding in G2 Foxbridge
Lhasa proved he is more than a synthetic track specialist when he nearly caused an upset when finishing runner-up in Saturday’s Gr.2 Foxbridge Plate (1200m) at Te Rapa.
Top Filly Beats Top Colt in G1 Prix Morny
The Group I Prix Morny (1200m) at Deauville overnight produced a mightly clash between unbeaten Starspangled banner colt Gstaad and unbeaten filly Venetian Sun with the filly prevailing, although Starspangledbanner got some consolation with a new G3 winning 2YO at Goodwood.
Reliable Man Best Still to Come
The impressive Group I VRC Oaks (2500m) victory of three-year-old filly Miami Bound, who became the second Group One winner for sire Reliable Man, has been the highlight of a stunning ten-day period for the Westbury Stud-based stallion.
Merchant Navy 3YO Primed for Spring Stakes Campaign
Cody Cole is happy to play a waiting game with Landlock before confirming the three-year-old’s main goals for the season.
Oaks Winner Back to Best
Last season’s Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m) winner Sentimental Miss returned to her best with a quality staying performance to take out the Listed Steelform Roofing Group Wanganui Cup (2040m).
Spring Trial Watch – Hawkesbury
There was an interesting set of trials at Hawkesbury on Monday that featured heat winners including Golden Slipper winner Marhoona, Randwick Guineas winner Linebacker as well as the Waterhouse Bott stable Cups contenders Sir Delius (GB) and Vauban (FR), plus we may have seen an Everest horse.
Reliable Man's Miami Bound Emulates Dam In VRC Oaks
The filly with the real Oaks pedigree, Miami Bound, kept the ball rolling for Melbourne Cup-winning trainer Danny O’Brien and Victoria Derby-winning jockey Damien Oliver when she proved a class above in Thursday’s $1 million Kennedy Oaks (2500m) at Flemington.
Commemorative Retired to Stud
Watching the progress of Godolphin horses as they start stepping our for their new trainers has been interesting to say the least and will get more so this weekend when we see Tom Kitten go around in the Group I MRC Memsie Stakes at Caulfield, but one horse we won’t be seeing again is Commemorative.
Karaka Million Goal for Reliable Man Filly
Promising two-year-old De La Terre will look to improve on the family record in the Karaka Million 2YO (1200m) after she looked to have cemented her place in the million dollar feature with a comfortable victory over 1000m at Te Rapa on Saturday.