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Hall of Fame - Benjamin
Original article written by Nathan Klein posted 3 years 1 week agoIn the history of All-Weather routers, there have always been 2 that are ranked as not just the greatest All-Weather routers but also are ranked among the 50 best sim horses of all time. Those would be D's Excaping and Benjamin. D's Excaping would be more dominant winning 15 races on All-Weather. But Benjamin would prove to be the fastest router the Sim world had ever seen.
His racing career would be brief, only lasting 10 career starts but he made all of them count. He started his career nice and easy facing 2 challengers and leading them the whole way with minimal effort, a stakes victory followed when he ran in the Time-Turner Stakes. Stalking in second early before moving to the front and winning by a length and a half. The last race of that year was the British Futurity where he stalked again, letting National Parks set the pace early. At one point leading the race by 3 lengths. But Benjamin easily caught up to him by the far turn and opened up a lead of his own. Winning by 3 lengths at the wire.
After that came the last race he would have in Great Britain. Running in the British Synthetic Derby. Although only a $50,000 stakes race he would run one of the greatest races of any All Weather horse. He broke well but stayed in third while National Parks and Passing Clouds fought for the early lead. Benjamin would slowly begin to unwind when they passed the half a mile pole. Catching up to the leaders by the time they went into the final turn. After that, he gave them a show exploding forward. Every stride the horses long graceful legs carried him twice as far as the other horses. He opened up 1 length, 2 lengths, 3 lengths. By the time he hit the wire he had opened up 7 and 3/4 lengths. After he finished the race the crowd looked in astonishment at the final time. 1:50.64, it was a new world record. No horse had ever raced 1 1/8 miles that fast on an all-weather track before or since.
After such a performance he would go to the states to face off against the best synthetic horses in the world. His first start would be the grade 2 Derby Dreams Stakes. The first graded stakes race of his career. His main competition would be a precocious 2-year-old named Live The Dream who had won 4 straight at the age of 2 including the grade 1 All-Weather Futurity. Live The Dream would set a fast pace early leading while Benjamin was a distant second early. The rest of the field was far behind the 2. Benjamin would wear down Live The Dreams 3 1/2 length lead by the final turn leading by a head. He then opened up a small but strong lead winning by 2 1/2 lengths and running the second-fastest running of the race in its history. He was only 2 hundredths of a second off the stakes record held by Sunscape.
Next up was his first grade 1 race, the All-Weather Derby. He would face 6 challengers that day. Starting well but dropping back to 4th while Kevinloveoverrated led the race with Live The Dream close behind in second. Live The Dream took the lead but Benjaman and Dr. No passed him as they approached the far turn. Benjamin would only be a neck ahead when they reached the far turn. But he pulled ahead in the stretch opening-up over Dr. No and managing an impressive 4 length victory. He would break the stakes record that day. The original holder was the great D's Excaping. Although this would be a record that he would not hold onto for long as it would be broken 3 sim years later. A very similar thing would occur next time out as he stalked Lochsong and Kevinloveoverrated at one point being nearly 9 lengths behind. He would make up the ground quickly, however, and go on to win by 2 1/2 lengths. He again broke the stakes record but this record would only last 2 SIM years.
After that, he would have an easy time in the Y Stakes leading from the start and opening up the further he ran ending with him winning by 4 lengths in a gate to wire performance. But his final prep before the Steward's Cup would be considered by many his best race in the States. As well as one of the best performances by an All-Weather horse. It would be in the All-Weather 2000 Guineas. He broke to the front early setting a fast early pace and leading by 5 lengths when the hit the far turn. He would lose some of his lead in the stretch but still held on strongly by 2 and 3/4 lengths. People were astonished when the clock stopped, he had won the race in 1:51.00. Out of the multiple stakes records he set his win in the All-Weather 2000 Guineas has been the only one that still stands today excluding his world record in Great Britain.
With 1 world record and multiple reset stakes records, all that was left was the Steward's Cup Synthetic Classic. Here he would face off against the toughest competition he could get. First, there was Discovery Moment the previous years champion All-Weather Champion Three Year Old Male. Just like Benjamin, he was also a winner of the All-Weather Derby. Then there was Compulsive who had taken both the All-Weather World Cup and the Plastics Classic in preparation for the race. If anyone could challenge Benjamin it would be those 2. The race began and Benjamin started by stalking a longshot frontrunner named Please. He would tire him out in the first half of the race staying less than a length behind him. He then took a clear lead in the home stretch by 3 3/4 lengths. Because of the fast early pace, Discovery Moment made a move on the rail to try and catch him. Although he did make up ground on him it wasn't enough. Benjamin easily held on to win by 1 3/4 lengths.
A day later he would be officially retired and set to stand at stud. At the Simmy's he would win All-Weather Champion 3-Year-Old Male and All-Weather Horse Of The Year. He had retired with 10 victories from 10 starts and never once was defeated. The closest any horse got to defeating him was 1 1/2 lengths. He set stakes records in 5 of his 10 career starts. 2 of those records are still held today with one of them being a world record. As a sire, he would produce 7 individual millionaires. He produced back to back All-Weather Horses Of The Year winners. With Catfood N Sadness winning it in year 45. Then having A Bird Named Ben win it in Year 46. Overall a record-setter on the track and a great sire. Benjamin has stood the test of time and is still considered along with D's Excaping as one of the greatest All-Weather horses of all time.