Behemoth stands tall to retain Memsie Stakes crown
Son of All Too Hard leads home South Australian Group 1 quinella and will now bid to defend Sir Rupert Clarke title
The Oxford English Dictionary describes a behemoth as ‘something that is very big or powerful, especially a company or organisation’ and the equine Behemoth (All Too Hard) not only exhibited a display of unrivalled strength in his performance in winning yesterday’s Memsie Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) at Caulfield, but, with this his third Group 1 success, is also amassing a burgeoning list of elite-level entities to rival a business giant, as he became the first horse since Sunline (Desert Sun) (2000 and 2001) to win back-to-back editions of the Memsie Stakes, and now looks likely to bid to become the first horse to win both the Memsie and Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) in consecutive years.
The horses that ran one-two in the Spring Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) at Morphettville earlier this month filled the first two spaces in the Memsie, as the David Jolly-trained Behemoth (6 g ex Penny Banger by Zedrich) led home a memorable day for neighbouring South Australia, with Will Clarken’s Beau Rossa (Unencumbered) chasing home the six-year-old to take second.
The Unencumbered (Testa Rossa) Group 2 winner was kept in a pocket by his state counterpart, with winning jockey Brett Prebble delivering the first run on the son of All Too Hard (Casino Prince), one that proved the decisive move as Behemoth circumnavigated a three-wide trip around the bend to just hold off the challenge of his two-year younger rival, going on to win by a neck, with three-time Group 1 winner Tofane (Ocean Park) running on for third a further half-length back, as she made an encouraging start to her Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m) campaign.
“It was a great race to watch,” said Jolly from Morphettville. “Probably like the Spring Stakes, things changed complexion.
“I thought we were in a great spot early, and then they really dropped anchor and I did say to Brett this morning, ‘at least where you’re drawn, you might be able to cruise around them and maybe you’ll have some horses on the inside that you can tuck away and make your move when you want to make your move’ and that’s exactly how it panned out. He probably went a little bit early but I think he had to given the tempo.
“I don’t think he’s at full fitness yet for the 14 (hundred). He’s probably got a little bit to go and maybe that might have tolled on him late. But we’re only early in the spring. A bit like last time, I thought his third run was the best, and I think that’s going to happen this time with this third, fourth run.
“We’ll discuss it with Sam (Lyons) and we’ll see what weight he gets but I think we’ll probably go there (Rupert Clarke Stakes).”
Behemoth’s triumph was in no small part to the perfectly executed ride of former champion jockey Prebble, who saw his Melbourne record of 99.5 wins in a season shattered by Jamie Kah and her 105 wins for the 2020/21 campaign. However, the 43-year-old profited from Kah’s misdemeanours yesterday to record his first Australian Group 1 win since Green Moon’s (Montjeu) Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m) success in 2012.
Kah was slapped with a three-month ban for attending a gathering at a Mornington Airbnb on Wednesday night, contrary to state lockdown rules, leaving the ride on Behemoth vacant, and Prebble, who has nine wins at a 22 per cent strike-rate to begin the new season, delivered an emotional post-race interview.
“It’s a good feeling, that’s pretty special,” Prebble said. “I wasn’t actually sure he got there, I reckon he needed the run.
“That’s racing,” said Prebble, reflecting on the last 24 hours in which he not only picked up the ride on Behemoth, but also Caulfield Cup (Gr 1, 2400m) favourite Incentivise (Shamus Award).
“There’s highs and lows and I’ve had them all. It’s easy to be a champion once but it’s hard to do it multiple times. This is what we all strive for and you’ve got to work for it. And I have worked for it. It hasn’t come out of turn.”
The victory for Behemoth wrote another chapter in the incredible story of the gelding, who was picked up as a gangly, brute of a yearling for just $6,000 at the Magic Millions National Yearling Sale by Grand Syndicates’ Sam Lyons, and has now collected over $3.2 million in prize-money, winning ten of his 24 starts, a haul which includes three Group 1 successes and a further five victories in stakes company.
The leading progeny for All Too Hard in last year’s standings, as the first month of the new season reaches its conclusion, victory in yesterday’s $1 million Memsie Stakes for Behemoth has propelled his sire, who broke into the top ten in the sires premiership last season, to sit top of the table at the month’s end.
The Vinery Stud stallion ended last season with five stakes winners of 11 black-type races, and is among three stallions to break the $1 million barrier in earnings for the 2021/2022 campaign.
Crusader flashes home to win The Heath Stakes
You could have been forgiven for thinking you were at Randwick on April 1, 2017, for the running of the TJ Smith Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) when tuning in to watch yesterday’s The Heath (Gr 3, 1100m) as the field entered the final 300 metres.
Except they were running left-handed and the Team Hawkes-trained horse in the navy and gold lightning bolt silks barely staying in shot at the rear of the field was, rather than a grey, a less distinctive flash of bay.
However, that didn’t dampen the comparisons to one of Australia’s most enigmatic sprinters as Masked Crusader (5 g Toronado – She’s Got Gears by Invincible Spirit) put in a performance akin to that of another of Rupert Legh’s star sprinters, in six-time Group 1 winner Chautauqua (Encosta De Lago).
Ridden by Jye McNeil, Masked Crusader flashed home from the rear of the 11-runner field to topple the Ciaron Maher and David Eustace-trained Amish Boy (Star Witness) by a cosy three-quarters of a length. Oxley Road (Exceed And Excel) trailed in third, a length and three-quarters from the winner.
The stage wasn’t quite as decorated as the TJ Smith Stakes but, nonetheless, the William Reid Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) winner of the autumn put in an ominous display at Caulfield in a campaign which ultimately will lead to the Randwick 1200 metres this spring, with The Everest (1200m) the looming target, for which he is now the $5 joint-favourite with Nature Strip (Nicconi).
“Truthfully, what went around my mind there was Chautauqua and that’s what he had to do, he had to do a Chautauqua-like performance,” said Wayne Hawkes, who trains in partnership with father John and brother Michael.
“I wasn’t that rapt on the corner, he certainly had to do it the hard way and the horse in front of him certainly wasn’t taking him anywhere I thought ‘gee whiz’.
“All roads lead to The Everest,” Hawkes continued. “Chautauqua, I think it was his second TJ Smith and he was in Melbourne until eight days before the race, with us it doesn’t matter because we’ve got stables in both states.
“He can do his last bit of work on a Tuesday and go up on Tuesday night. He can go as late as the Thursday night. We just wanted to get part today.”
The Gilgai Farm-bred $340,000 Inglis Premier sale yearling buy for Hawkes Racing and Cameron Cooke Bloodstock takes his earnings to $1,177,025, while Masked Crusader’s on-track record sits at six wins from 13 starts.
The flagbearer for Swettenham Stud’s Toronado (High Chaparral), Masked Crusader is the fourth foal out of Ottawa Stakes (Listed, 1000m) winner She’s Got Gears (Invincible Spirit). Her three-year-old son by Sebring (More Than Ready), named Insurgence, debuted in June this year, finishing fourth at Kembla Grange, before a second placing at that same track last month.
Probabeel shows class to win Cockram
Class again prevailed in the Cockram Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m), as three-time Group 1 winner Probabeel (5 m Savabeel – Far Fetched by Pins) defied a 60-kilogram impost first up to win with something to spare at Caulfield yesterday.
The Jamie Richards-trained and Cambridge Stud-owned mare was also sent off an odds-on $1.95 favourite to prevail and, although being made to work for victory under Damian Lane as she raced three-wide for the majority of the 1200-metre trip having jumped from the widest barrier in nine, she defeated outsider Chassis (Al Maher) by a neck, with the closing Robert Sangster Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) winner Instant Celebrity (Not A Single Doubt) running third, a half-length behind the winner.
The Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes and a mouth-watering clash with Behemoth looks like being next on the agenda for the daughter of Savabeel (Zabeel), who claimed the Futurity Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) at Caulfield in the autumn.
“It was a very similar sort of win (to last autumn’s first up win in the Bellmaine), she was probably a bit more dominant in the Bellmaine but I was probably more on top of the speed and she bullied the race a bit,” Lane said of Probabeel.
“Today, she was off the speed and had to sprint hard and probably peaked on her run just a bit late. She’ll be better for the run and has come back in terrific order.”
Stable representative Brad Taylor added: “He (Lane) got her into a nice position. She was flat there turning but she’s got a real will to win. She put her head out on the line and was very good.
“I thought, having a good look at her in the yard today, she looked very good. Very similar to what she was first-up last time.
“Jamie said she was in similar fettle. The coat is not as good coming out of the New Zealand winter, but she presented well and there’s nice improvement there with bigger things to come.”
Waikato Stud were again celebrating big-race success in Australia for their champion sire Savabeel, with Probabeel backing up last weekend’s Group 1 success in the Winx Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) for Mo’unga.
Bred by the Chittick family-owned stud, Probabeel, who has amassed more than $3.2 million in prize-money with her 11 wins in 24 starts, was a $380,000 yearling buy for David Ellis at the New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka yearling sale. She is the first and only foal out of her Group 3-placed dam Far Fetched (Pins).