Bennett hoping Stay Silent and Baraqiel can thrive at Flemington
Syndicator also reveals plans for their big guns ahead of spring assignments
Bigger targets could be in the offing for Bennett Racing’s Stay Silent (Deep Field) and Baraqiel (Snitzel) should the Leon and Troy Corstens-trained pair perform up to standard in their respective assignments at Flemington on Saturday.
Two-year-old Stay Silent will be seeking the first win of his career when he tackles the Byerley Handicap (1800m), while five-year-old Baraqiel is aiming to stretch his unbeaten record to five when he takes his chance up the straight in a Benchmark 84 (1200m).
Despite having yet to taste victory in three starts, Stay Silent has shown his talent in all his races so far, recording a fourth-placed finish having got fractious in the barriers before a 1100-metre event at Caulfield on June 1, before finishing sixth, beaten only 1.9 lengths by the winner, Sneaky Sunrise (The Autumn Sun), over 1420 metres at Flemington.
He enters Saturday’s contest having finished third behind the Lindsay Park-trained duo Jenni’s Meadow (Brutal) and Sneaky Sunrise in a high-class renewal of the Taj Rossi Series Final (Listed, 1600m) at headquarters earlier in the month and Nathan Bennett believes the colt has been crying out for a step up in distance.
“We think he will benefit from a step up in trip,” Bennett told ANZ Bloodstock News. “We have always thought he was a good miler in the making and every run he has just shown that he has wanted further and further. We thought it would be a good chance to step him up and then set some targets for him.
“The Taj Rossi was about four lengths above standard, so I think it was a strong edition and most other years he probably would have been the winner, but a couple of smart ones got past him.
“He doesn’t really know how to extend yet or really lengthen and drop himself when he gets under pressure, at the moment he sticks his head up and just doesn’t know how to let down. We have a nose roll on this time and I hope that will help extend and lower himself and work out what it is all about once the pressure goes on.
“The boys [Corstens] have said he has trained on during the week and has even come on since the run. Hopefully he can bring that tomorrow [Saturday] and run that distance. If he gets the trip I think he will be very, very hard to beat.”
While future plans will be made after connections see how Stay Silent fares in this weekend’s assignment, Bennett said races like the Australian Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) in the autumn and the VRC Derby (Gr 1, 2500m) this spring could come under consideration.
“Whatever he does now I think he will get better and better,” Bennett said of last year’s $145,000 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale purchase. “He is a big raw colt who has a lot of maturing still to do, but mentally and physically he is handling it well.
“If he runs how we think he might, we will certainly be looking at some nice spring targets with him. I would think we will also look to the autumn with him and something like an Australian Guineas. If he happened to win tomorrow [Saturday] you would be crazy not to have a crack at a Derby and you have automatic entry to that race.”
While the trip is certainly a query, being by the now pensioned Newgate Farm stallion Deep Field (Northern Meteor), who is better known as a stallion of sprinters, Stay Silent’s damside is littered with relations who got a trip. His dam Paulita (Scat Daddy) landed a brace of stakes races in her native America, including one over 1900 metres, while her dam, Blind Date (Not For Love), took out the Virginia Oaks (Gr 3, 9f) in 2009.
“A lot of the horses don’t stay the distance [in the Derby], but you will never know if you don’t try. There is a bit of staying prowess in the pedigree with the second dam having won an Oaks, whether that is throwing to him more, we will have to see,” said Bennett.
Stay Silent will be ridden by Blake Shinn from barrier nine on Saturday.
A few races later, Stay Silent’s stablemate Baraqiel will be hoping to extend his picket fence form to five and also advertise his credentials for some high-class races this spring when he jumps from barrier 12 under Ben Allen.
Purchased by Bennett Racing, Anthony Freedman Racing and Julian Blaxland’s Blue Sky Bloodstock from the Arrowfield Stud draft for $150,000 at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale in 2020, the rising six-year-old is out of the Group 3-winning mare Angel Of Mercy (Hussonet), making Baraqiel a half-brother to this season’s Australian Oaks (Gr 1, 2400m) winner Autumn Angel (The Autumn Sun).
In a career that has been thwarted by a combination of a tendon injury and knee problems, Baraqiel is in his first preparation and since breaking his maiden at Sale on May 5, he has more than made up for lost time and also repaid his owners patience.
The son of Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice) was last seen nearly throwing away victory in a 1200-metre event at Caulfield on June 29, wandering off his line in the straight, but still had enough class to score by 0.3 lengths.
Bennett said he was hoping the gelding can find more cover on Saturday, rather than being left at the front too soon.
“He is a very talented gelding and the owners are already starting to have a lot of fun with him and there is a lot more to be had,” he said. “He has trained on well since his last win.
“It would be lovely if he could find the back of one of them and learn how to run into the race, rather than be there and be a sitting duck and wander around. We are hoping that one of them takes him into it and if he does he can hit the front at the clock tower, which I think he will, then the rest will be up to him if he can stay straight and not wander. If he handles everything he will be mighty hard to beat.
“He is a horse who is still doing a lot wrong, but winning and winning quite easily. The other day, it looked like there was a leaf or something on the track and he must have seen it and he actually ducked away from it. Whether it was just him being green, but I think there was also something on the track, so hopefully there won’t be anything else on the track to distract him.”
Regardless of the result on Saturday, Bennett revealed a program geared towards Group 1s such as the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) at Caulfield on November 16 will be on the table for the talented Baraqiel.
“We definitely think he is stakes level and we are definitely looking at the Sir Rupert Clarke at the end of the spring, and we have spoken about running in a Newmarket – so we think he is high class.
“Whatever happens tomorrow, win, lose or draw we won’t be judging him if doesn’t win. He is raw and a good horse in the making. If he were to win tomorrow you may have to consider an Aurie’s Star or freshen him for Sir Rupert Clarke and then into a Magic Millions.”
With the new season just around the corner, some of Bennett Racing’s big guns are moving closer to returning to the racetrack. Lofty targets have been set for the Geelong Diamond (1100m) winner Stay Focused (Cosmic Force), who impressed his connections and trainer Phillip Stokes in his jump-out earlier in the week.
“Off his trial the other day, he seems to be going a lot better than he was even off his last prep,” said Bennett.
“He was under a hold and ran a quick time, we probably weren’t expecting him to be that good this soon. A lot of the track riders have come back and said he is as good as a three-year-old. I think giving him that time hopefully will pay off and it generally does.”
Unlucky not to land a stakes race as a two-year-old, finishing second in the Blue Diamond Prelude (C&G) (Gr 3, 1100m) in February, before running a brave fifth in the Blue Diamond (Gr 1, 1200m), the son of Cosmic Force (Deep Field) will have the Coolmore Stud Stakes (Gr 1 , 1200m) at Flemington as his main target this season.
Stay Focused will kick off his campaign in the Vain Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m) at Caulfield on August 17 and make his way to the prestigious Group 1 on November 2.
“The main target is the Coolmore and he will go to the Vain Stakes first-up into the McKenzie and if he happened to win one of those or both we would certainly give the Manikato a thought,” said Bennett. “We definitely want to get him to a Coolmore and if we think he gets a mile we can head to an Australian Guineas.”
The $10 million Golden Eagle (1500m) at Rosehill on November 4 will be the ultimate goal for the Australian Guineas winner Southport Tycoon (Written Tycoon), who Bennett believes has returned from a spell a ‘bigger and stronger’ proposition. Trained by Ciaron Maher, the entire will have his first outing as a four-year-old in The Shorts (Gr 2, 1100m) at Randwick on September 21.
“He is going super and he looks amazing,” said Bennett. “He has put on a lot of condition and is more furnished this time in. He is about a fortnight off a jump-out and then will head to The Shorts first-up and then make his way to the Golden Eagle – which is the main target.
“If he ran a good race in The Shorts, he might get a call up for The Everest and we would be open to that, he is certainly sharp enough.”
High-class import Fawkner Park (Zoffany) will also likely kick off his preparation at Caulfield on the same day in the Underwood Stakes (Gr 1, 1800m).
The rising six-year-old was propelled to the top of the market for the Caulfield Cup (Gr 1, 2400m) with his victory in The Q22 (Gr 2, 2200m) at Eagle Farm and the Caulfield showpiece is still very much on the agenda for the Annabel Neasham-trained gelding.
“He had three weeks out and is back into pre-training now,” said Bennett. “He will start in the Underwood and then into the Caulfield Cup after that – he is a really exciting horse and looking forward to another good prep.”