Dubai: Godolphin’s all-conquering handler Saeed Bin Surour is not averse to handing out praise where it’s due. And the Emirati was gracious in describing Winx, Australia’s Queen of the Turf as ‘the best of the best.’
However, having got the pleasantries out of the way, Bin Surour is now hopping to pull of the impossible by handing the world’s highest rated horse her first defeat in 29 starts with a horse he has always held in the highest regard, Benbatl.
Arabic for ‘ready for the battle’, Bin Surour’s protégé has earned his chance to record a historic victory in a fortnight, when he lines up alongside Winx in the Group 1 Cox Plate, a race that the mare has won for the last three consecutive years.
The decision to take on Winx came after Benbatl, a horse that Bin Surour named himself, held-off fellow Godolphin charge, Blair House, in a thrilling Caulfield Stakes (G1) on Saturday.
It was third Group 1 success of the year for Benbatl, a four-year-old son of Dubawi, following the Dubai Turf (G1) at Meydan and the Grosser Dallmayr Preis (G1) in Munich, Germany.
“What he showed today has given us confidence to go to the Cox Plate,” Bin Surour said. “It is a race that has been our target since the Carnival when he was in Dubai.
“But Winx is in the race, she is the best-of-the-best, a superstar … I have a lot of respect for her. She is very special.
“But we are bringing Benbatl, a multiple Group 1 winner, who has improved significantly this year.
Benbatl has earned his place in the race,” added the Emirati of the A$5million weight-for-age contest run at Moonee Valley Racecourse in Melbourne.
Benbatl’s victory under jockey Pat Cosgrave, who made a Group 1 winning debut in Australia, came after Godolphin’s locally-trained Hartnell produced another praiseworthy performance to finish second behind Land Of Plenty in the Group 1 Toorak Handicap at Caulfield.
The highlight of the card was The Everest, Australia’s richest race with a prize pool of A$13 million, which was won for the second year by Redzel.
Godolphin’s Osborne Bulls finished a game third with Trapeze Artist taking second.
Meanwhile at Newmarket Racecourse in the UK, Too Darn Hot announced himself as a big Classic hopeful when winning the Group 1 Darley Dewhurst Stakes in convincing fashion, by 2¾ lengths in the hands of Frankie Dettori.
The runner-up was Advertise, the ante-post favourite with Anthony Van Dyck taking third.
“He’s up there with the best two-year-olds I’ve ever ridden. He has everything,” Dettori told ITV Racing.
“He’s got pace but he’s bred to stay. The (2000) Guineas will be the target now.”
Strange as it may seem, Dettori was winning a maiden Dewhurst was also was legendary trainer John Gosden.
Too Darn Hot raced in the colour of owner-breeder Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber the famous English composer and impresario of musical theatre.
