An era that ended following the sale of an acclaimed Victorian thoroughbred stud will have a celebratory postscript if Benagil can turn potential into a Group 1 win at Caulfield.
Reaching her spring destination with a pedigree that is a salute to the lasting legacy of Blue Gum Farm - and with an air of stable confidence to match - Benagil is ready to deliver on her promise in the Thousand Guineas.
At least her breeder and owner Philip Campbell hopes it works out that way on the eve of the second anniversary of Blue Gum Farm’s sale in a move that closed a decorated chapter in the Australian thoroughbred industry.
But while Campbell and his wife Patti have stepped away from a commercial thoroughbred operation to enjoy a different lifestyle, Benagil goes into the Guineas as an appropriate reminder of the Campbells’ influence.
Benagil represents the fourth generation of a maternal family that Campbell bought into when he purchased her great granddam Delgara at an Oaklands Junction sale in 1999.
Being a granddaughter of Encosta De Lago and a daughter of Manhattan Rain - two in a long line of stallions to stand at the Euroa property - Benagil’s bloodlines complete a neat piece of Blue Gum symmetry.
Delgara produced Inkster after a mating with Blue Gum-based Umatilla.
Inkster retired from racing with a VRC St Leger win and a South Australian Oaks placing to her name in the same colours Banagil will carry on Saturday, and she has left her mark as a broodmare as the dam of Benagil’s mother Des Moines, a daughter of War, who also stood at Blue Gum.
Multiple-placed at metropolitan level, Des Moines made her way to stud a date with another Blue Gum resident Manhattan Rain with Benagil her resultant first foal.
“As you can see we have had quite a history with this female family,” Campbell told The Straight.
Benagil has been trained for the Thousand Guineas since making an unbeaten start to her career with wins at Pakenham and Mornington as an end-of-season two-year-old.
Under the guidance of the newly minted Mike Moroney-Glen Thompson partnership, Benagil is following a lead-up template the stable established in 2023 when Coeur Volante started favourite as the Guineas was tried in a new spring timeslot for the first time.
Coeur Volante didn’t run out the mile last year but Campbell says that shouldn’t be an issue for Benagil, who is building into the Guineas with a profile that suggests she has inherited more of her granddam’s stamina than her mother’s sharpness.
“Des Moines was a lot more speed-orientated. War was a speed horse himself and there is speed in the female family,” Campbell said.
“Inkster's a half-sister to a good filly that we bred and raced named Sorenstam and she was better over a short course, maybe up to a mile.
“But there is some stoutness there in the family and this filly that we're racing now (Benagil) is a big, strong lump of a girl.
“She gives every indication that a mile is going to be no problem for her at all at this stage.”
Blue Gum Farm was Victoria’s longest-running family-owned thoroughbred stud before its sale to the racing and breeding enterprise Trilogy in 2022.
The deal ended more than four decades of the Campbell family’s involvement in a stud that launched the breed-shaping career of champion sire Encosta De Lago and was home to an abundance of other successful stallions such as Noalcoholic, Rubiton, Umatilla, Rancho Ruler and Elvstroem.
Not surprisingly, the connection between Blue Gum and modern-day Thousand Guineas history is strong, thanks to the impact of Encosta De Lago who sired 15 of his 26 Group 1 winners while standing in Victoria.
They include Encosta De Lago’s high-class daughters Alinghi and Mnemosyne, respective winners of the 2004 and 2005 Thousand Guineas.
Alinghi ranks as one of Blue Gum’s finest graduates as the winner of four Group 1 races and almost $3.5 million.
"The favourite's in a bit of trouble...Alinghi's launching her run now, here comes the champ!"
— Racing.com (@Racing) November 14, 2023
Enjoy Alinghi's massive 2004 Thousand Guineas win with D.Oliver in the saddle 🐐 pic.twitter.com/ejzM993viK
Horses such as Umrum and Fontiton only enhanced the farm’s reputation as a nursery for racetrack excellence and there is an anticipation that Benagil can add to that record for the Campbells - albeit from another perspective.
“Running a farm like Blue Gum is 24 hours a day, seven days a week and it's a very intense, very involved vocation,” Campbell said.
“We had a great time doing it and we were very, very successful doing it but we're enjoying looking at the industry from a different angle now.
“We've been enjoying a big step back and taking a big, deep breath.
“But we are very much looking forward to the Thousand Guineas. The chance to win a Group 1 race doesn’t come along very often. As a matter of fact, they’re pretty few and far between.
“But I reckon we might be due another one, so hopefully it's this Saturday.”
