Persan
Whether it’s horses, stud farms or sometimes even profits, good things can come in small packages.
When the compact Persan chugged home for fifth, the first Australian home, in last year’s Melbourne Cup, it was the culmination of a huge spring, and the realisation of a giant victory for the little farm where he was raised in the Hunter, Valley’s End Stud.
And when the four-year-old resumed at Moonee Valley last Saturday and conquered the onerous challenge of a first-up win over 2040 metres, the future looked brighter still.
Persan was one of the stories of the Australian turf last spring. He’d muddled through his first nine starts in New South Wales under trainer David Payne, falling in one of them and waiting till the last one for his first placing, in a Hawkesbury maiden. But sent south to Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, and with more development under his saddle strap, the son of Pierro and former Group 1 winner Ofcourseican blossomed into something wonderful, with a string of winter wins in Melbourne leading up to that memorable outing on Cup day.
Watching from home at Valley’s End, the stud’s manager Brendan Bentata had more than one reason to celebrate.
“We were just so proud of him,” he says. “To only breed a dozen or so horses a year and have one come flying home for fifth in a Melbourne Cup was great. Backing him to be the first Australian home was a nice little bonus, too!”
Brendan’s father David branched out from his sign business in the late 1990s and bought Valley’s End, from where he’s become known as one of the more astute boutique breeders going round. The place is on the small side, at around 100 acres, but punches above its weight, a bit like Persan on both counts.
David bred Given Vision (Belong To Me), who became an outstanding miler in Singapore. There was hardy campaigner Doubtful Jack (Not A Single Doubt), and Zizou (Fusaichi Pegasus), second in both the Golden Slipper and Blue Diamond of 2007.
But the sparking of the family that’s brought up Persan has been perhaps David Bentata’s finest achievement, a move which very nearly had this little stud’s brand seen on one of the grandest stages in world racing.
In 2001, Bentata bought a yearling filly by Canny Lad. Eventually turning into a mare with the proportions to match her sizeable name, Yes She Can Cancan carried the Bentata silks – dark blue with red diamonds, yellow sleeves, red armbands and cap – with just a little distinction, with two city wins from ten starts and a fourth in the Group 2 Light Fingers Stakes for trainer Ron Quinton. At stud, she more than paid her way.
First up came a filly named La Goulue by Danehill Dancer, who won three times in Melbourne and had a Listed placing in Adelaide.
In 2005, Bentata crossed Yes She Can Cancan with Mossman. The nick has proved successful, with Canny Lad mares hatching eight winners and two stakes winners by the sire. This early attempt produced the best of them: Ofcourseican.
Kept by her breeder and continuing the Bentata-Quinton link, Ofcourseican became a top-liner, winning eight from 28 including victory at the highest level in the 2012 Coolmore Classic at Rosehill. A third in the Group 1 All Aged Stakes two runs later was her final bow.
Two years after breeding her, Bentata had struck gold again by putting Yes She Can Cancan to More Than Ready. The resulting compact colt was sent to the Magic Millions National Weanling sale in 2009 – most of Bentata’s colts, like Persan, are shopped out as weanlings – and fetched $155,000, bought by well-known South African owner Hassen Adams. He entered him in the Inglis Easter yearling sale 12 months on, with a tidy pin-hooking profit looking likely from the colt’s stunning appearance. He was so impressive, however, Adams decided to keep him, and ship him in South Africa.
There, racing as Gimmethegreenlight, he became a star, winning a handful of top races and becoming the first three-year-old in 42 years to win South Africa’s most prestigious WFA race, Kenilworth’s Group 1 Queen’s Plate.
“He got an entry into the Breeders’ Cup in America from that win,” Brendan Bentata says. “He didn’t go for one reason or another, which was a bit of a shame. We would’ve been very happy to see a Valley’s End brand go around in the Breeders’ Cup!”
Retired to stud, Gimmethegreenlight’s success has only strengthened. He was South Africa’s champion first season sire in 2016 and leading second season sire the year after. In 2019 he was the country’s top active sire by stakes winners. In fact, 25 stakes winners came from his first four crops. They included Surcharge who, after winning a Group 1 at Greyville in 2018 went the opposite way to his father, had a name change to Yulong Prince, and claimed the Group 1 Cantala Stakes for Chris Waller at Flemington last Derby Day. He is set to stand on Yulong’s stallion roster this year.
Valley’s End operates with a philosophy of keeping most of its fillies to breed from and sending most of its colts to weanling sales. There, the farm makes what could be called profit enough – perhaps the domain of the boutique/hobby breeder – while keeping the industry and its pinhookers churning. It also avoids the costs and risks of keeping young colts for many months longer until the yearling sales.
That’s not to say there’s no angst when horses like Gimmethegreenlight are viewed from an ocean away.
“Oh no, there is. You always wish you’d have kept that one colt,” Brendan says with a wry smile. “But, we kept Ofcourseican and sold Gimmethegreenlight, so we’re happy in the end.
“It tends to even out. We sold one for $37,000 and it was on-sold as a yearling for $360,000. Then again, we sold one for $100,000 and it was passed-in as a yearling for $70,000.
“We’ll breed about a dozen horses a year – sometimes it was as low as seven during the last drought – and we’ll keep as many fillies as possible. We try to breed up the families, get the colts sold and get them racing, and then still have something for ourselves to breed on later, if the colts do well.”
Meanwhile, Ofcourseican began her stud career with a Dream Ahead colt, Forever Dream. Passed in when on this occasion offered as a yearling, and later sold privately, he suffered a knee injury early in an eight-start/one-city-win career. As fate would have it, the Bentatas opted to keep Ofcourseican’s second colt. A son of Sebring named Billy Can, he sadly broke down at his 12th start after one win. But with Ofcourseican’s next two, there would be no hard luck stories.
“Yes She Can Cancan had a Fastnet Rock once, and it was just much too big of a horse,” Brendan explains of the mating between Ofcourseican and Pierro.
“And Ofcourseican was a really large mare herself, so we tried to avoid the bigger stallions, so we chose Pierro, who’s not that big.”
When a filly emerged – later the multiple Melbourne winner Pierrless – David Bentata had no hesitation sending Ofcourseican back to Pierro. The result this time would be Persan.
Sold as a weanling for $160,000 to James Bester Bloodstock, he was later passed in as a yearling with a reserve of $300,000. For Bester and the co-owners who now share in the exciting million-dollar earner, it was just as well.
“The Pierros hadn’t done a lot to that point, and sometimes in Australia if they don’t have a two-year-old straight away the market goes off them straight away. So we were happy to get that price,” Brendan says.
“He wasn’t the biggest horse, and we knew he wasn’t going to be a two-year-old. He’s still not the biggest horse, but he’s got lots of ticker though, just like his mum.”
Ofcourseican now has a Not A Single Doubt filly, who sold for $220,000 as a yearling, preparing for the track under the tutelage of Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, and a yearling filly by Astern, which the Bentatas will keep.