Group 1 Goodwood winner Benedetta will miss the entire spring

In a week when the announcement of T J Smith winner Chain Of Lightning was announced, the sprinting division took another blow. Benedetta is yet to make it to the very top echelon of the speedballs but she improved enough last season to think that she was capable of making herself very comfortable in Group 1 sprints again this campaign.

Benedetta was remarkable in the 2023/24 season

Warren has always been careful with her, unraced as a two-year-old, she didn’t make her race debut until December 2022. After showing plenty of promise as a three-year-old, the 2023/24 season was only a few days old when Benedetta won a Bm84 at Flemington.

A win in the Group 3 Cockram at Caulfield would follow before a close third in the Group 2 Bobbie Lewis. Her prep ended in mid-October in the Silver Eagle as trainer Jason Warren sent her to the paddocks.

She was ridden a little further back in her Group 1 races in the autumn than her runs in lesser company in the spring. That didn’t help her, trying to make up ground against a superior level of competition.

It is perhaps no coincidence then that after taking an early position in sixth in the Goodwood, that she was able to salute in Group 1 company for the first time. That is something that is worth looking at in the autumn, how far back do they have her in her races. Further forward might help her add to her Group 1 winning tally.

Not a serious injury but enough to see her miss the spring

Benedetta missed the Bobbie Lewis last month which Warren had intended as her first start of the season. She picked up a knock on a hind leg, nothing major and the plan was to run her either this weekend or on Cox Plate weekend.

Unfortunately for connections, the injury has not been as quick to heal as they would have liked. It was not anything serious enough that she could not have run this spring but Warren is playing the long game. If he runs her and she makes it worse, she could miss the entire season so it feels like a sensible approach to be a little more cautious.

Plans are already in place for Benedetta’s autumn prep

A trip to Flemington for the Black Caviar Lightning Stakes is the main target for Benedetta in the autumn. Five runs at the Melbourne track so far in her career have yielded two wins, two third-place finishes and a fourth.

The fourth came in The Newmarket, only beaten 1.65 lengths in the Group 1 contest. That was a massive run as she overcame a race that shaped against her. As mentioned earlier, she came from further back than any of the others in the first six past the line that day.

A 1000m run at an end-to-end gallop could be an interesting move for her. The only time in her last prep that she underperformed was in the 1400m Stradbroke. While the absolute best of her form is over 1200m, including her Group 1 win in the Goodwood, the lure of a return to Flemington is going to be a plus.

Benedetta is a better sprinter than perhaps some have given her credit for. Aside from her Goodwood win, she was third in the Sangster, and fourth in the Newmarket and Oakleigh Plate. As a five-year-old, she should be stronger still once she hits the track.