A superb ride from Craig Williams has helped Behemoth and trainer David Jolly to claim back-to-back Group 1s in Saturday’s time-honoured Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield.
The son of All Too Hard was installed as the rightful favourite after winning the Group 1 Memsie Stakes only a fortnight ago, but this time around had his work cut out carrying 60kg in a higher quality field.
Williams also found himself with work to do in the race as the pair were left searching for room behind Banquo and Tagaloa in the closing stages.
The reigning Melbourne Cup winner managed to shift to the outside right in the nick of time however, right before storming over the top of Dollar for Dollar, who put forward a very brave effort to run second.
Behemoth clearly belongs in the conversation with the rest of the countries top sprinters, while Williams was happy to sing the praises of trainer David Jolly for some smart decision making.
“David Jolly has always felt that he’s a horse that is a better target horse. They’ve placed him really well, because of the COVID restrictions and the weight, yes he’s carrying 60kgs and the minimum is now 54, so he has to do it really hard.
But he is the best horse in the race, and he warranted that weight because he won a Group 1 race the start before, so he’s doing a really good job. I just love the way the horses mental aptitude is coming now, you can just see what kind of race horse he is, and he just made my job a lot easier,” Williams told racing.com.
Williams has now won the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes six times after winning in 2006 with Barely A Moment, 2007 with Rewaaya, 2011 with Response, 2012 with Tororak Toff, and more recently in 2016 with Stratum Star.
“It’s been a great race for me, my father won it as a jockey and as a trainer, so it’s been a great race for me,” Williams went on to say.
Pretty Brazen did well to finish third, while there was no such luck for last years winner Begood Toya Mother, who finished 3.5L off in 12th.
Behemoth, meanwhile, holds a nomination in the Ladbrokes Cox Plate (2040m) on October 24 at Moonee Valley and can be found at a $26.00 quote in the market.
View Ladbrokes’ 2020 Cox Plate All-In market by clicking here.
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