Giant galloper Behemoth has set a weight-carrying record by carting 60 kilos to win the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes and connections are now hoping to secure a slot in The Everest.
“We’ve got a bit to think about but you would think he’s done enough for someone to call us up and inquire about The Everest with the form he’s in,” managing owner Sam Lyons said.
Lyons said Behemoth should be regarded as “a serious galloper” after the win and if the call came for The Everest they would seriously entertain it.
“He had the big weight. They did everything they could to beat him and he didn’t get the best run but he still managed to win,” Lyons said.
Trained by David Jolly at Goolwa, Behemoth continued the great recent run of South Australian horses in feature races and became the third horse to win the weight-for-age Memsie Stakes and Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes in the same year.
Lyons said they would have a think about Behemoth’s program but travelling him back and forth to Jolly’s stables from Victoria was taking a bit out of the horse.
Jolly said it was a dream come true to train a galloper of his calibre.
He said the Cox Plate would come up too soon this year but indicated they would look at the Cantala Stakes at Flemington.
Lyons purchased Behemoth for $6000 as a yearling for Grand Syndicates which race the horse.
The win gave Craig Williams a record-equalling sixth win in the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes.
“It’s a special race for my family as Dad won it as a jockey and as a trainer,” Williams said.
“We had a challenge carrying 60 kilos but it was on a 56 kilo minimum. He was the best horse in the race and he made my job easy.
“It’s a credit to David Jolly and his team and also to Sam Lyons and Grand Syndicates with what they’ve done with him.”
Behemoth ($3.80 fav) defeated the Tony and Calvin McEvoy-trained pair of half-siblings Dollar For Dollar ($26) and Pretty Brazen ($10).
Williams made it a winning double when he took out the final race, the Group Three How Now Stakes, aboard Felicia for Mornington horseman Dean Binaisse to give the trainer the first Group win of his career.
