All Too Hard Gets Second Group 1 Winner in Behemoth

Behemoth by name and by nature—but not by sales price—Behemoth is now among that most exclusive of clubs for racehorses as a group 1 winner after he scored his first success at the highest level in the Aug. 29 Magic Millions Memsie Stakes (G1) at Caulfield. 

Long touted as a group 1 winner in the making, a view only solidified by his narrow defeat in The Goodwood (G1) as a 3-year-old at just his seventh start, the David Jolly-trained Behemoth, who was purchased for AU$6,000 (US$4,504) as a yearling, entered the Memsie Stakes off a dominant first-up win in the Spring Stakes (G3) at Morphettville.

Sent out as $3.30 favorite, Behemoth looked poised to justify that support throughout after he was given a soft run by Craig Williams from Gate 2. He landed in a handy spot behind a solid tempo set by Begood Toya Mother and the pressing Streets Of Avalon, and never appeared cluttered for room at any point.

Tracking up sweetly on the home turn as Streets Of Avalon wilted under pressure, Williams was able to force off the fence with ease early in the straight and from there it was simply a question of margin.

The answer was 1 1/2 lengths, holding off the late-charging Channel 7 Queensland Derby (G1) winner Mr Quickie, who made a pleasing return.

Glenfiddich, the first 3-year-old to contest the Memsie in more than a generation, ran a strong third 2 1/4 lengths from the winner in what marked the return of 53-time group 1-winning trainer Peter Moody to the big leagues.

"When he landed in the right spot I thought he'd be hard to beat," said Jolly, who was forced to watch from Morphettville in Adelaide due to COVID-19 border restrictions. "When we drew inside some people thought that wasn't a good thing but I was happy. He was able to take a spot and stretch out.

"I said to Craig to use him from the gate, be a little aggressive. It worked out so well. I'd have loved to have been there."

Honest charges Cascadian and So Si Bon performed solidly for fourth and fifth, respectively, while two-time Tab Australian Cup (G1) winner Harlem worked home well enough for a never-nearer seventh.

However, the spring campaigns of All-Star Mile winners Mystic Journey and Regal Power appear up in the air after they finished 10th and 12th, respectively. 

Regal Power's stablemate Arcadia Queen also remains under a cloud after she was scratched from the Memsie due to hoof issues, while P.B. Lawrence Stakes (G2) victor Savatiano was a late withdrawal after she reared up in the tie-up stalls.

In the end, though, all honors were with Behemoth, who has, this preparation, furnished into the elite-level racehorse he long promised to be.

It has been a case of slowly, slowly, for Jolly as he has nurtured Behemoth along: a city winner in both Adelaide and Melbourne in his second preparation, a group 1 runner-up in his third campaign, a stakes winner in his first month as a 4-year-old, and a solid group performer by the time he reached the Adelaide features in May.

This was evident in his game fourth in the inaugural Iron Jack Golden Eagle Stakes at Rosehill last year, finishing in front of highly-touted horses like Arcadia Queen, Beat Le Bon, Classique Legend, and Brutal, as well as filling the same spot in this year's The Goodwood.

It was a fitting reward for Jolly as he picked up his first group 1 win in 18 years; his last came in The Goodwood with Zip Zip Aray in 2002.

"It's been a long time since my last group 1 win in The Goodwood," Jolly reminisced, "but I've had a few near misses in Adelaide and Melbourne."

After Saturday's win, Behemoth's prize-money haul now sits at AU$1,324,810 ($935,732), having won six of his 16 starts and recorded a further four seconds.

That pales in comparison to his purchase price as a yearling, when the Peter and Karen Morley-owned Grand Syndicates paid just AU$6,000 for him at the 2017 Magic Millions National Yearling Sale—he has earned more than 220 times that to date.

That AU$6,000 purchase came less than a year after he sold for AU$120,000 ($88,716) from the Tyreel Stud draft at the 2016 Inglis Great Southern Weanling Sale Platinum Session.

Linda Monds recalled of Behemoth as a foal: "I loved him, he was full of character, he really had such a big personality. He was such a giant weanling, that's why we put him through the Great Southern Sale early on and while he kept growing after that, boy can he run.

"He was absolutely one of the biggest weanlings we'd had but that said, we'd had big before so it just proves again that group 1 winners can come in all shapes and sizes.''

Not much had changed by the time he came into Grand Syndicates' ownership a year later, according to racing manager Sam Lyons.

"He was very big, but not really in proportion body-wise and had a very interesting big boofhead," Lyons told Racing.com earlier this week. "That's why he hasn't been over raced and we've allowed him time to grow into himself."

Saturday, Lyons added: "It's a big thrill. David has been so patient with him. People have dropped off him along the way too. He just needed time."

Behemoth is the second group 1 winner for Black Caviar's half brother All Too Hard, having produced his first—Australian Guineas (G1) conqueror Alligator Blood—earlier this year.

Bred by Wallings Bloodstock, the breeding outfit of Tyreel Stud's Linda and Laurence Monds, Behemoth is the fourth of five foals for the now-deceased Zedrich mare Penny Banger.

While Penny Banger won the Schweppervescence Sprint for juveniles at Flemington in 2008 and was quite precocious, she was a half sister to Master Minx, who won the Aquanita Stakes and was placed in both the Mount Franklin Lightly Sparkling-Western Australian Derby (G1) and the BMW Perth Cup (G2).

While Behemoth is yet to race beyond 1,500 meters and holds favoritism for the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (G1) at Caulfield next month, his stamina could potentially be tested at a mile next time out in the Makybe Diva Stakes (G1), a race that in turn could also lead to a Cox Plate (G1) berth. 

He has also shortened into equal favoritism for the Toorak Handicap (G1) alongside Buffalo River and Showmanship.

For now, Jolly is not ruling anything out, except for the fact that Behemoth is likely to head back to the trainer's Goolwa base for the time being.

"We'll bring him home and talk about where we go," he said. "He does have an entry for the Cox Plate but we're not sure whether to take a handicap or weight-for-age path with him. I'm very mindful that he was more forward in his preparation than many of the others but it all worked out so well today."