A chance to turn a ‘what if’ into a ‘what’s next’ for Flying Start’s Resolutely

Cameron Bennett has spent much of the year wondering what might have been.

As his syndication business enjoys an end-of-season flurry with three recent winners and an Ipswich Cup success in June, Bennett is counting on the Golden Slipper form to provide a gateway to the spring with untapped filly Resolutely.

Runner-up to Guest House on debut in December, the Hellbent filly never had the chance to build on that reference when it mattered most.

While Guest House stamped himself as a shining light of this season’s two-year-old crop with his Golden Slipper triumph, Resolutely was confined to a spelling paddock with a minor injury, with a lack of maturity her enemy.

Bennett, the principal of Flying Start Syndications, is hopeful Resolutely’s late-season return to racing can lead to an early spring result.

An acceptor for the Lightning Stakes at Morphettville on Saturday, Resolutely has been scratched from the Listed race.

Instead, Bennett and the Lindsay Park operation will concentrate on the Stow Robotics Handicap (1100m) at Caulfield, where Resolutely has drawn a better barrier with the 2025/26 premier jockey-in-waiting Craig Williams to do the riding.

It will be a case of deferred opportunity after Resolutely emerged worse for wear after her clash with Guest House at Cranbourne, ending any chance of a Blue Diamond Stakes bid.

“She got galloped on by Guest House in that race,” Bennett said.

“We were going to push on to the Blue Diamond, but she was a bit immature going into that sort of prep anyway.

“She was just a run-by-run proposition, so we just gave her a break to bring her back for the spring.”

As Guest House progressed to become Australia’s premier juvenile, Bennett became increasingly convinced Resolutely had the talent to measure up if given the time to develop.

“We knew she was a good horse because Mick Price was always telling me how good the other one (Guest House) goes,” he said.

“It would have been good to run in some of those other races … just to be a chance.

“I knew the form was going to stack up all right because Mick was pretty keen on his.

“Hopefully we get rewarded in the spring.”

Purchased for $125,000 from the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale in Sydney, Resolutely has been earmarked for sprint races and is one of three Flying Start fillies 

Rather than aiming the daughter of Hellbent at the major fillies’ classics, Bennett expects Resolutely to make her mark over sprint distances, where black type would significantly enhance her value as a broodmare prospect.

“I think she’s more of a sprinter at this stage,” Bennett said.

“We’re trying to get a win early, get some money in the bank and her ratings up, and if we can get her some black type she’s worth good money.”

Resolutely is the first of three fillies expected to Flying Start a presence across the breadth of the Melbourne spring carnival.

Group 3 Ottawa Stakes placegetter Jadzia is being prepared to peak later in the spring and the unraced Scarole is in training with Ciaron Maher with an anticipation she will appreciate stepping beyond sprint distances once she reaches the racetrack.

They are both daughters of in-demand sire Ole Kirk.

“Jadzia’s probably more mid-to-late spring horse where Resolutely will be early,” Bennett said.

“I’m hoping Scarole develops into that sort of miler because once those three-year-olds get to that distance they drop away a bit in depth.”

Bennett established the Flying Start a decade ago, relying on tried horses and value at the yearling sales to find his place that was rewarded when the $50,000 purchase Amphitrite collected the 2018 Thousand Guineas.

Resolutely is a product of that buying template, with Bennett generally restricting his purchases to horses he believes can be syndicated at realistic price points for everyday owners.

He believes that task has become increasingly difficult as the syndication market grows more crowded and the cost of racing continues to climb.

“I think it’s just flooded,” Bennett said.

“There’s just so many people doing it, and with the economy everyone is feeling the pinch, while training fees have gone up a lot in recent times.”

Bennett said many long-time clients who once happily raced shares in multiple horses had become increasingly selective.

“Now they’re pulling back because of the ongoing costs, so I’ve been buying less the last couple of years and trying to stay in that value range.”