John O’Shea is keeping an open mind on autumn carnival plans for Benaud, whose opening campaign runs will be pivotal in determining which races he targets.
The talented four-year-old had his foot on the till in the spring, finishing just behind the placegetters in the Winx and Chelmsford Stakes and runner-up in the Kingston Town Stakes before his Caulfield Cup prospects were cruelled by an outside draw.
“He’s a really nice, progressive horse,” O’Shea said.
“In the Caulfield Cup we drew 24 and he got back to last in a slowly run race, so just forget he went around.”
Benaud was spelled after the Caulfield Cup and took his first step towards a return with a quiet barrier trial at Rosehill on Friday.
He is likely to have another trial before kicking off his campaign in the Group 1 Chipping Norton Stakes (1600m) at Randwick on February 25 with his second-up performance in the Group 3 Sky High Stakes (2000m) set to be a campaign defining race.
“He will go to the ten-furlong race two weeks after (the Chipping Norton), it’s set weights and penalties, and then we will make an assessment from there,” O’Shea said.
“Whether he goes on to The BMW (Tancred Stakes) and heads towards the Sydney Cup, I’m not sure.
“I want to get to that race and make a call.”
Stablemate Quantico went around in the same trial on Friday, going to the line hard held behind a wall of horses.
He is on the comeback trail and hasn’t raced since last year’s Group 1 Newmarket Handicap at Flemington in March with O’Shea is keen to get him up and running early to capitalise on the firmer tracks during the late summer and early autumn.
“He pulled up a little sore post the Newmarket and we had to give him a good break,” O’Shea said.
“There was no point bringing him back in the early spring because it was wet, so we just left him out.
“Knowing that he is much more effective in the early part of the year when the tracks are drier, it has been a strategy to get him (ready earlier and) onto the better ground.”
Quantico is likely to resume in the Southern Cross Stakes (1200m) at Randwick in two weeks, while O’Shea’s top-class sprinter Lost And Running will be welcomed back to the barn this week.
“He is due back in the stable on Monday and will run first-up in the Galaxy,” O’Shea said.