Benarkin And Tony Brett Win The Big Dog
The Tony Brett trained Benarkin has led all the way from box one to win the 2014 Big Dog Cup at Albion Park tonight.
The 34kg black dog was back to his best in terms of box manners tonight and used the rails alley to aplomb, holding off the early challenges from Spirited Flame (2) and Cakes And Pies (6) who unfortunately went amiss.
Spirited Flame put plenty of pressure on Benarkin the first time down the straight, but Benarkin stayed nailed to the rails and forced Spirited Flame to toil hard out of the straight and into the back.
The two dogs drew away from the field up the back straight with Wag Tail (5) looking the only chance of running on, albeit from ten lengths further back.
As they headed for home, Benarkin had broken the heart of Spirited Flame and had the race in his keeping. Wag Tail rattled home to finish second, doing his best work at the end of the race, while Spirited Flame hung on for third.
Benarkin's win was his seventh at the track and distance from just 11 attempts and he posted a slick 34.72 in winning the 600 metre event, which is a personal best for the son of Path To Power and Velocity Cloud.
The win caps a great month for Benarkin who also finished third in the final of the Group Two Summer Distance Plate at Wentworth Park in January.
He has now won 16 races from 40 outings and has career earnings in excess of $80,000.
Grandchester mentor Tony Brett will now focus on the upcoming Group One Zoom Top on Saturday week at The Meadows for his star chaser.