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A plan comes together for South Aussie star

It's rare in racing that things plan out perfectly but Saturday Group 1 Memsie Stakes did exactly that for South Australia’s latest Group 1 star Behemoth.

The last-start Spring Stakes winner enjoyed the perfect run behind the free-rolling Begood Toya Mother before bursting away from rivals with 200m to travel to score a 1.5 length-win and continue his rapid rise.

Jolly, remained in SA where he landed a Morphettville double to complete a massive day, before watching Behemoth’s breakthrough win on his iPad on the trip home to Goolwa, while Grand Syndicates racing manager Sam Lyons watched from the comfort of his lounge room with his family.

“I knew I had an hour between my last runner in Adelaide at the time he was set to run,” Jolly said.

“I was pretty keen to get away when I could. We happened to win in Adelaide so the horse (Streetcar Stranger) had to be swabbed (and) we had to wait a little while for that. I was only half-way down Marion Road when I had to pull over to watch the race.”

Jolly made the decision to ring Behemoth back to SA rather than remain in Melbourne, with a return to Caulfield for the Toorak Handicap now the most likely scenario.

Behemoth will most likely return to Caulfield for the $500,000 Group 1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes over 1400m and then progress towards the $500,000 Group 1 Toorak Handicap over a mile there on October 10.

“Caulfield in three weeks looks ideal and we’ll just see how everything goes but the three weeks between runs looks ideal,” Jolly said.

A crack at the $1.5 million Kennedy Cantala Stakes, now run on Derby Day, which is October 31, could be an option deep into the spring.

Behemoth is a story that has captured the hearts of many.

A $120,000 weanling purchase who was then picked up for a bargain price of just $6,000 from the Magic Millions National Sale, Behemoth has now banked more than $1.3 million in prizemoney. The only downside was the fact his connections were forced to watch from afar due to COVID-19 restrictions.

The day could have been even bigger for South Australia at Caulfield.

The runs of the Gordon Richards-trained pair of Bold Star and Garner in the Group 3 The Heath over 1100m were nothing short of sensational.

The pair settled back in the second half of the field before charging home late finishing on the heels of the placegetters behind Diamond Effort. After putting in arguably the best runs in the race, the race was a perfect launching pad to what looms as a big spring for the underrated sprint duo.

And they weren’t alone, with the run of Leon Macdonald and Andrew Gluyas’ Extra Time in the Group 3 McNeil Stakes enormous.

Caught off the track in a hot three-year-old feature, Extra Time strode to the lead with 200m to travel and was only gathered up in the final few strides to be beaten less than half a length in fourth place.

Extra Time’s performance has him on a path to the Caulfield Guineas where he could be joined by stablemate So You Can, who returned to best form early in the day at Morphettville.

Given a perfect run behind the speed by jockey Jason Holder, the youngster was able to angle into clear air on straightening before powering to a strong length win over Crown Mint.

So You Can firmed into a $34 Caulfield Guineas chance, with Extra Time now $51 after the pair entered the weekend at $101 on tab.com.au.

The performance of that three-year-old pair helped ease a disappointing day for the stable, with long odds-on favourite Dalasan going down in the first incarnation of the Leon Macdonald Stakes.

Sent out $1.40 despite his tricky inside gate, Dalasan found himself a long way off the leaders before charging late to be beaten a length in third place.

His luckless run slightly overshadows a stunning training performance by Michael Hickmott with winner Sky Punch.

The young Murray Bridge horseman has started the 2020-21 racing season in a blaze of glory with eight wins from just 18 runners, his stable going at 44.4 per cent runners to winners.

The stable launching has been perfectly timed with Hickmott’s recent purchase of the famous Lakewood Stud property at Wellington

“To win a race named after Mr Macdonald, who’s been an idol of mine my whole life, is just a huge honour,” Hickmott told Racing.com post-race.

“There’s new owners, three of my best mates, all my family (and) I’m just so thrilled.”

The Listed win again highlighted the timely move from Victoria to Adelaide for apprentice jockey Jessica Eaton.

She’s claimed two feature races and sits atop the South Australian riding premiership with nine wins from just 45 rides in the opening month of the season.

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