Benagil stamps class with poignant Oaks triumph
Eight years after his first two, West Australian-based stallion Manhattan Rain (Encosta De Lago) has a third Group 1 winner after Benagil brought an emotional first solo top-level success for trainer Glen Thompson in the Australasian Oaks (Gr 1, 2000m).
Two months after the death of his more senior training partner Mike Moroney, Thompson cheered home Benagil as she stormed from near the tail of the field to record a commanding 1.29-length victory as $3.10 favourite.
The Busuttin-Young trained Sweltering (Too Darn Hot) showed the versatility of her in-demand Darley stallion in taking second, almost providing a bookmakers’ dream at $201. The O’Shea-Charlton stable’s Polymnia (Dundeel) was centimetres back in third place, at $4.60.
Manhattan Rain, winner of the 2009 AJC Sires’ Produce Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m), retired to stud the following year and had to wait until 2017 for his first Group 1 success. It was at least an important one, with She Will Reign taking the Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m), before adding the Moir Stakes (Gr 1, 1000m) the following spring.
In the same year, Manhattan Rain’s son Whisky Baron scored a top-tier victory in South Africa, in the Metropolitan Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m).
Having begun stud duties at Arrowfield before moving to Victoria’s Blue Gum Farm, Manhattan Rain was transferred to WA’s Geisel Park in 2022, where he stood last year for $8,250 (inc GST).
Benagil – winner of Caulfield’s $500,000 Vobis Guineas (1600m) two starts ago before finishing 1.22 lengths behind the outstanding Treasurethe Moment (Alabama Express) in Rosehill’s Vinery Stud Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) – becomes the 19th black type winner worldwide for her 18-year-old father.
The filly was bred in partnership by Victoria’s Blue Gum Farm a year before Phillip Campbell sold the stud to Trilogy in 2022. She was retained to race by Campbell and his co-breeders.
The middle leg of a stakes treble for jockey Mark Zahra, and at his first ride on the filly, Benagil was taken back from barrier 13 of 16 to settle third last.
She would benefit from a strong pace set by the Waterhouse and Bott-trained Too Darn Lizzie (Too Darn Hot), the $5.50 third-elect, with close company from Team Hayes’s $8.50 chance Cinch (Dundeel), who went forward from gate 15. That pair ultimately weakened to finish tenth and last respectively.
Benagil cruised towards the leaders before the turn and powered to the front at the 200-metre mark, the race in her keeping a long way from home.
The victory was an immense boost for Thompson, who has branched out on his own following his training partner’s death and the closure of Moroney’s Ballymore Stables, with most horses under its umbrella transferred to the Hayes brothers’ Lindsay Park.
Campbell and his co-owners stuck with Thompson, who has some 55 horses on his books at his Flemington stable, and they were celebrating Group 1 glory on Saturday.
“It’s been a tough few weeks, but I just tried to focus on today,” Thompson said.
“We just got her here in as good an order as we could. I thought she was spot-on today, and she raced like it.
“She’s just gone to another level this time.”
An emotional Thompson thanked Campbell, who was trackside along with co-breeder and part-owner Richard Byrnes, saying: “It’s great to have them here”.
Thompson said the win capped a long-range plan drafted with Moroney a few months ago. The trainer stuck with the Morphettville mission, despite the obvious temptation to go to the ATC Oaks (Gr 1, 2400m) after running second in the Vinery.
“It was always the plan to come here from a long way out,” he said.
“She went to Sydney and ran so well, and there was a little bit of pressure to stay in Sydney and run in the Oaks, but this was a much better option for her.
“It looked like she proved us right today.”
Four runs into her campaign, Benagil may now continue to Brisbane to try to boost her broodmare CV further with another top-level success in the Queensland Oaks (Gr 1, 2200m).
“We’ll just see how she comes through the run. We’ll have a talk to Phil, but it’s definitely a possibility to head up there,” Thompson said.
Benagil is the first foal of maiden-winning mare Des Moines (War). She missed to Farnan (Not A Single Doubt) in 2021, but now has a yearling filly by King’s Legacy (Redoute’s Choice). After missing to King’s Legacy in 2023, she was covered last spring by Rubick (Encosta De Lago).
Sweltering’s superb second placing was timely, given Victoria’s Stonehouse Thoroughbreds will offer a half-sister to her by Farnan at Sunday’s Inglis HTBA Yearling Sale at Riverside, catalogued as Lot 192.