What A Day - First Two Runners Both Winners

Well we got up this morning hoping that Benagil would have a well deserved change of luck and during the early stages of the VOBIS Guineas it did not look as though that was going to be the case as she ended up back and wide from the outside gate.

Fortunately, aided by a clever ride by Michael Dee, Benagil was given the chance to show her best and her best is pretty good - as she showed by her driving finish to win the $500,000 feature in determined fashion.

Racing well despite plenty going wrong versus the best fillies in the spring, Benagil has come up nicely this time in though first up she ended up at the rear off a tardy start in a race just not run to suit.

Fortunately there was a bit more pace to today's event and Benagil really let rip over the final stages - recording the third win of her eight start career.

"From her awkward draw the plan was to just get her out of the gates and try to be close if possible but that didn't eventuate," Michael Dee said.

"We ended up last, three wide with cover."

"She grabbed the bridle approaching the 600m," he said, "and I thought there is really no point holding on to her and waiting for the others to sprint away - I thought we might as well go when we did and she was able to make a long sustained run."

"She was getting tired over the last 100m so there is plenty of improvement to come - she did a good job to hold off the late challenger."

Anthony Feroce was not too concerned seeing Benagil have the run she had as he could see that she was always travelling well - "I knew Michael had a lot of horse underneath him," he said.

"She was luckless in the spring against some really good fillies and today we tried to take bad luck out of it - we were happy for her to stay wide and get the run; she did that and she exploded - she was terrific."

The Gr.1 Australasian Oaks in Adelaide is on the agenda for Benagil who races in the red, white and royal blue colours of the Campbell family who have been such great supporters of the stable.

It was apt for them to win this race with a home-bred - the Guineas a race for Victorian breeders and they don't come much bigger than the Campbells who so successfully ran Blue Gum Farm for decades.

"It is wonderful for them to win this race and we are excited to do it for them," Anthony said, noting that Ballymore was also home to Benagil's city placed dam Des Moines. She too was bred at Blue Gum as was her Listed VRC St Leger winning dam Inkster.

Benagil - who is bred on a 3 X 4 cross of her sire Manhattan Rain's grandam Dancing Show (the dam of Umatilla) - has a very Blue Gum pedigree with her sire, dam sire War and second dam sire Umatilla all calling the famed Euroa farm home.