Bennett hopes Stay Silent and Baraqiel can thrive at Flemington

By Lydia Symonds

Syndicator also reveals plans for its big guns ahead of spring missions

Bigger targets could be in sight for Bennett Racing’s Stay Silent (Deep Field) and Baraqiel (Snitzel) if the Leon and Troy Corstens-trained pair perform to their respective duties at Flemington on Saturday.

Two-year-old Stay Silent will be looking to claim a first career win when tackling the Byerley Handicap (1800m), while five-year-old Baraqiel will aim to extend his unbeaten record to five when taking his chance in the straight in a Benchmark 84 (1200m).

Although there is not yet to taste victory in three starts, Stay Silent has shown his talent in all his errands so far, recording a fourth place after struggling in the barriers before an 1100m event at Caulfield on June 1, before finishing sixth, beaten just 1.9 lengths by winner Sneaky Sunrise (The Autumn Sun) over 1420m at Flemington.

He enters Saturday’s contest after finishing third behind THE The Lindsay Park-trained duo Jenni’s Meadow (Brutal) and Sneaky Sunrise in a high-class reprise of the Taj Rossi Series (Listed, 1600m) finale at HQ earlier this month and Nathan Bennett believes the colt is crying out for a step up distance.

“We think he will benefit from an increase in distance,” Bennett told ANZ Bloodstock News. “We always thought he was a good miler in the making and every race he showed he wanted to go further. We thought this would be a good opportunity to give him an increase in distance and set some targets for him.”

“Taj Rossi was about four lengths above the norm so I think it was a strong edition and most other years he probably would have been the winner but a few smart ones got past him.

“He doesn’t really know how to extend or lengthen and lower when he’s under pressure yet. Right now he’s lifting his head up and doesn’t know how to let it fall back down. We’re doing a nose roll this time and hopefully that will help him extend and lower and understand what it’s like once the pressure builds up.

“The boys (Corstens) said he trained during the week and he even improved since the race. Hopefully he can do that tomorrow (Saturday) and run that distance. If he makes the trip I think he will be very, very hard to beat.”

Although future plans will be made after the connections, we will see how Stay quiet Regarding the prices for this weekend’s race, Bennett said races such as the Australian Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) in the autumn and the VRC Derby (Gr 1, 2500m) this spring could be considered.

“Whatever he does now, I think he’ll get better and better,” Bennett said of the $145,000 purchase from last year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale. “He’s a big colt who’s got a lot of maturing to do, but mentally and physically he’s doing well.”

“If he runs the way we think he will, we’ll certainly have a good chance with him in the spring. I think we’ll also be looking at taking him in the autumn and running a race like the Australian Guineas. If he won tomorrow (Saturday), you’d be crazy not to take a chance in a Derby, in which case you’d automatically get in.”

While background is certainly a question, given that he is by the now-retired Newgate Farm stallion Deep Field (Northern Meteor), best known as a sprinter, Stay Silent’s maternal lineage is littered with parents who have had a background. His dam Paulita (Scat Daddy) won two stakes races in her native America, including one over 6 furlongs, while his dam Blind Date (Not For Love), took orat the Virginia Oaks (Gr 3, 9f) in 2009.

“A lot of horses don’t do that. stay distance (in the Derby), but we’ll never know unless we try. There’s a bit of staying power in the pedigree with the second dam who won A Oaks, if that throws him more balls, we’ll see,” Bennett said.

Stay Silent will be ridden by Blake Shinn from fence nine on Saturday.

A few races later, Stay Silent’s stablemate Baraqiel will be hoping to extend his form to five races and also assert his credentials for some top-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 in the Arrowfield Stud draw for $150,000 at the 2020 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, the six-year-old colt is out of Group 3 winning mare Angel Of Mercy (Hussonet), make 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 hampered by a combination of tendon injuries and knee problems, Baraqiel is in his first prep and since breaking his maiden at Sale on May 5 he has more than made up for lost time and also rewarded the patience of his owners.

The son of Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice) was last seen throwing away a win in a 1200m event at Caulfield June 29deviating from its line in the straight, but always had enough class to score by 0.3 lengths.

Bennett said he hoped the gelding could find more cover on Saturday, rather than being left in the lead too early.

“He’s a very talented gelding and the owners are already starting to have fun with him and there’s still a lot to learn,” he said. “He’s trained well since his last win.

“It would be great if he could find the back of one of them and learn to run in the race, rather than being there and being an easy target and wandering around. We’re hoping one of them will take him in the race and if he can get there he can get to the front of the clock tower, which I think he will, and then the rest will be up to him if he can stay straight and not wander around. If he handles it all he’ll be very hard to beat.”

“He’s a horse that still makes a lot of mistakes, but he wins and wins 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 to get away from it. Maybe it was just because he was inexperienced, but I think there was something on the track as well., so I hope there’s nothing else on the track to distract him.

Regardless of Saturday’s result, Bennett revealed that a Group 1-focused programme 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’s up to stakes standard and we’re certainly looking at running at Sir Rupert Clarke in late spring, and we’ve talked about running at Newmarket – so we think he’s top class.

“Whatever happens tomorrow, win, lose or draw, we won’t judge him if he doesn’t win. He’s still young and a good horse in the making. If he were to win tomorrow, you might want to consider an Aurie’s Star or prepare him for Sir Rupert Clarke and then a Magic Millions.”

With the new season fast approaching, some of Bennett Racing’s big names are getting closer to their return to the track. Ambitious targets have been set for Geelong Diamond (1100m) winner Stay Focused (Cosmic Force), who impressed those close to him and trainer Phillip Stokes when he started earlier in the week.

“After his test the other day he seems to be doing a lot better than he did in his last prep,” Bennett said.

“He was under control and ran a fast time, we probably didn’t expect him to be that good so early. A lot of track riders came back and said he was as good as it gets. A “I think giving him that time will pay off and it usually does.”

Unlucky not to have won a stakes as a two-year-old, finishing second in the Blue Diamond Prelude (C&G) (Gr 3, 1100m) in February before finishing a courageous 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 begin his campaign in the Vain Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m) at Caulfield on August 17 and will head to the prestigious Group 1 on November 2.

“Our main target is the Coolmore and he will run the Vain Stakes before he runs the McKenzie. If he wins one or both of those we will definitely be thinking about the Manikato,” Bennett said. “We definitely want to take him to a Coolmore and if we think he is a miler we can move on to the Australian Guineas.”

The $10 million Golden Eagle (1500m) on November 4 at Rosehill will be the ultimate target for Australian Guineas winner Southport Tycoon (Written Tycoon), who Bennett says has come back from a difficult period and is a “bigger and stronger” contender. Trained by Ciaron Maher, he will make his first start as a four-year-old in The Shorts (Gr 2, 1100m) at Randwick on September 21.

“He’s doing great and he looks incredible,” Bennett said. “He’s gained a lot of fitness and is in better shape this time around. He’s about to A Fifteen days after an early departure, he will head first to The Shorts, then head to the Golden Eagle, which is the main target.

“If he has a good run in The Shorts he could be called up for The Everest and we would be open to that, he is certainly lively enough.”

Top-class import Fawkner Park (Zoffany) will also likely begin his preparation at Caulfield on the same day in the Underwood Stakes (Gr 1, 1800m).

The six-year-old colt 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 on the cards for the Annabel Neasham-trained gelding.

“He was out for three weeks and is back in training,” Bennett said. “He will start with the Underwood Cup and then the Caulfield Cup. He is a really exciting horse and he is looking forward to another good preparation.”