Provincial flyer Benchester’s track record-breaking ‘spree’ continued at Horsham last night.
Trained at Junortoun by Mark Morrissey, Benchester clocked a sizzling 22.66sec – shaving two lengths off the previous 410m mark of 22.78sec set by Spring Hummer on October 13.
Ironically, Benchester ($1.80F) – who led throughout from Box 4 – defeated Spring Hummer ($2.60) by 2.94L in a Free For All. He remains undefeated from four starts over this track and distance
Owned by Bryan Rushton, Benchester (Oct ’17 Magic Sprite x Dewana Babe) set a new time standard of 21.42sec – also from Box 4 – over 385m at Shepparton on October 26.
“When he broke the first split record (10.00sec) at Horsham on Christmas Eve last year, that’s when he started putting it all together,” Morrissey said. “I then started thinking a provincial track record may be within his reach.”
WATCH: Benchester (4) clocks a scintillating new track record of 22.66sec at Horsham.
Benchester drew Box 4 for the third start in a row last night, which pleased Morrissey.
“I was happy when he drew the ‘blue’ trap as it meant he’d be one of the last placed in the boxes,” Morrissey said. “He got confused and lost his way for a while under the four-wave boxing process but now has his timing back.”
Morrissey said the ultimate aim for Benchester is to make his city debut at The Meadows.
“He probably needs a couple more one-bend races to make him super fit before tackling The Meadows,” he added. “But the track should suit him as he’s a mad railer and hugs the fence.”
Benchester has won 19 races from 42 starts – including seven of his past 10 – and earned $38,080 in prizemoney. He was a finalist in this year’s G2 Shepparton Cup (450m), finishing fourth to Hard Style Rico.
*Photo by Daniel Thorogood
