Ciaron Maher and Australian Bloodstock teamed up on Wednesday to win the $500,000 Group 3 Bendigo Cup (2400m) with 5yo gelding Sayedaty Sadaty (IRE), who will now need a weight penalty to force his way into the $10m Group 1 VRC Melbourne Cup (3200m).
Going forward from barrier 3 in the 14-horse field, jockey Harry Coffey had Sayedaty Sadaty settled in fourth position as the field passed the winning post on the first occasion as the John O’Shea and Tom Chalrton trained race favourite Quietness went forward to lead after jumping from gate 13.
Passing the 1600m mark, the 6yo mare Quietness had gone two lengths clear with Sayedaty Sadaty drifting back to fifth with fellow Australian Bloodstock raced Don Diego De Vega (Fr) tracking him in sixth position.
Pulling himself along the rails, Sayedaty Sadaty found himself in third as Quietness came back to the field while the runs were starting to come from the back of the pack.
As Quietness kicked rounding the home turn, it gave Coffey an out aboard Sayedaty Sadaty as the son of Anodin came off the back of the leader to chase her down at the 100m mark, pulling clear for an authoritative length win.
Having tracked Sayedaty Sadaty along the fence, the Patrick Moloney ridden 60/1 chance Raging Bull worked home well to finish two lengths off the second placed Quietness to take third with a further length and a quarter back to Don Diego De Vega in fourth.
With only 51kg on his back, and outside the top 24 in the order of entry for Tuesday’s Group 1 Melbourne Cup prior to Wednesday’s race, connections will be hoping for a weight penalty to secure his position in the final field.
Having trained his third winner of the race, trainer Ciaron Maher was over the moon with the win.
"Fantastic. I'm just rapt, the team have done a super job with this horse,” enthused Maher post-race.
“He's lost his way a little bit, and as I said pre-race, we've got a good record with those stayers when you freshen them up (with) a good distance between runs.
“It was a beautiful ride then. Harry just seems to get it right on those stayers. The Archer run was very good and then that next one, it just didn't suit him that race shape at all when the other horse took off and it can bottom a horse when they're in a race like that but that's why I'm just rapt for the team. The horse is very deep into the preparation, he's run super and we'll see where he fits in Tuesday.
“We brought him out and we ran in a Caulfield Cup, that'd didn't sort of work out straight off the plane, so it does.
“It gives me great satisfaction and the Bendigo Cup, what a cracking day, there's a heap of people here and we always target well and the horses have run well (in the Melbourne Cup) that have run well in this race…High Emocean, Interpretation. Hopefully this horse is another one. We'll just tick him over now and hopefully he gets a spot.”
When asked if he will run out the 3200m of the Melbourne Cup, Maher was under no illusion that it is still an unknown.
“He had a beautiful run then I would be interested to see what Harry thinks. You don't really know until you go to it but he's had the right prep for it and I wouldn't be surprised if he got it.”
Having ridden three winners of the Bendigo Cup in the last five years, Harry Coffey was always confident in the run.
“Always good to win major races, especially on days like this. I spent a lot of time in Bendigo so I love this race day and I love winning the Bendigo Cup and I've been fortunate enough to ride some hand horses in it and this year I've been able to do it again."
“It actually worked out perfect. I was almost like we went for a nice gallop and I produced him with 300 metres to go and it was like he just had to set out and run down his gallop mate.
“It was a perfectly run race for him, perfect set-up, I landed in a good position following good riders on nice chances and got a beautiful rails run, allowed the back made up a bit of ground to get on Jamie's back and all I needed was an out and when that came he produced and was too good."
“I actually rang him (Maher) before, because I didn't know if he'd be here today and I had my Dad with me and he was going into a tent with some blokes and he said he needed a tip and I said 'Which one's the best in the Cup'? He said 'That's a silly question, you're on it'.
“Ciaron was happy with the horse, that race the other day, it was a high-pressure event but there's been a lot of form come out of it.
“Today's scenario he got a beautiful run, brought his best and hopefully that gives him a lot of confidence and we can now see him run in good races regularly."
When asked about his Melbourne Cup chances, Coffey looked back to one of his previous winners.
“I won this race on High Emocean years ago and we saw what she was able to do in a Melbourne Cup and this bloke was probably just as dynamic, if not better today.
“Different fields, different scenarios, but this race the last few years has produced horses running so well in the Melbourne Cup and I think sometimes the Bendigo Cup gets forgotten about but the last few years it'd produced the good and I can't see why this fella can't do that again.”
Recording his fourth win, and first at black type level coupled with a further nine placed efforts from 19 starts with earnings of $746,143, the Thomas Lines bred Sayedaty Sadaty is one of six winners, and first at black type level out of the four-time-winning Galileo mare Bell Su River.
Sayedaty Sadaty is one of 25 international stakes performers for the Group 3 winner Anodin, a brother to European Horse of the Year, Champion and 14-time Group 1 winner Goldikova, with the son of Anabaa standing in France at Haras de la Haie Neuve for a fee of €5,000.
