By Mick Sharkie
Predicting the winner of the 2021 All Star Mile will not be an easy task given the quality of the field but predicting the best after party is easier to forecast thanks to one particular syndicate manager and his ownership group.
Sam Lyons, the happy go lucky former comedian turned racing manager is the public face of Grand Syndicates, a syndication company that caters to owners on a budget with an eye for quality, with the majority of their shares available for, well, a grand.
Lyons sheepishly admits to letting loose on more than a few occasions as a spectator at The Valley, but victory in the All-Star Mile with Grand’s people’s champion Behemoth would take those festivities to unprecedented levels.
“It’s going to be a very big day and if we win, well, I will not be contained – I’m not sure The Valley would be ready for me if he (Behemoth) wins,” said Lyons.
It’s a sentiment echoed by trainer come bloodstock agent John Price, a close advisor of Lyons and the Grand team and the man responsible for plucking Behemoth from obscurity.
“Moonee Valley is the theatre track of Australian racing I believe, it’s a special place and I think the celebrations would match the occasion,” said Price.
Lyons leans on Price to do the leg work for Grand Syndicates at yearling sales time before carving through the short list together. That trust has grown since the inception of the business, Price was one of the first trainers that Lyons and Grand Syndicates owner Peter Morley decided to partner with, and their friendship has grown over time.
“John is a great judge of a horse, some of the horses he’s identified for us at a budget have exceeded just about all expectations, Behemoth probably fits into that category,” said Lyons.
A weanling “pinhook” – meaning he was bought as a foal and then prepared for sale again as a yearling – Behemoth was sold for a very healthy $120,000 at the Inglis Great Southern Weanling sale in 2016 before making – wait for it – just $6,000 at the 2017 Magic Millions National Yearling Sale.
“I pulled him out of the box at the National sale and I thought, oh gee, here’s a great big heavy horse, and you steer clear of those a bit these days because of the firm tracks. But then when he walked, he walked out quite good and when I pulled him a part he was actually put together really well, he was just big and fat,” said Price.
“I warmed to him and when he kicked off really low in the ring I though oh gee, there’s obviously an issue here on x-ray, but we kept on and we got him.”
Neither Lyons nor Price elected to examine the x-ray reports on the colt, “at that price with the pedigree that he has we thought he was worth the punt regardless,” Lyons explained.
Instead, Lyons and trainer David Jolly decided to take a steady approach with the colt rather than rushing him, hoping that whatever issues had developed between Behemoth’s sale as a weanling to when he was sold as a yearling would resolve with time.
“That patience was so important, David (Jolly) has really managed the horse beautifully, he’s done a great job,” said Price.
While Lyons fielded questions from potential owners about why the horse was sold so cheaply, Jolly’s admiration for Behemoth grew and after a little while Lyon’s phone was ringing again.
“He (Jolly) played his cards pretty close to his chest early days, Dave is not one to talk them up, but I remember right before his first start Dave called me and said listen, keep this to yourself but I think this horse has Group 1 capability and I got pretty excited then,” said Lyons.
And Jolly was right. Although beaten on debut when fifth of 13 in a Balaklava maiden, Behemoth soon found that winning feeling and after knocking over his maiden at Morphettville he graduated to Melbourne and smashed a handy field of summer three-year-old rivals at The Valley, his only run at the track to date.
At just his seventh career start Behemoth was beaten a head in the Group 1 Goodwood in Adelaide.
“He changed our business and gave our brand a horse in the headlines. He became a bit of a hype sprinter and a lot of commentators rated him, it was amazing for our business,” Lyons explained.
The Grand Syndicates team had to be patient, but patience has been a theme of the Behemoth story. During the memorable COVID-19 Spring Carnival of 2020, Behemoth landed his first Group 1 in the Memsie Stakes at Caulfield and then a second when the Group 1 Rupert Clarke Stakes followed three-weeks later.
Behemoth had realised his potential, confirmed the hype and had graduated to a genuine candidate for the All-Star Mile.
A marketing campaign offering the chance to win a 5% share in Behemoth for a day was launched to attract votes and the hulking sprinter finished the polling period as the second most popular horse with a whopping 14,699 votes.
“He doesn’t just represent the 20 owners, he represents the whole of Grand Syndicates, he represents what the business is all about and what ownership in Australia is all about,” said Price.
The $5 million prizemoney aside, All-Star Mile day at The Valley isn’t just about winning for the Grand Syndicates team; this is a chance to come together at one of the most iconic race tracks in the world and celebrate a horse that has given so much from such an unlikely beginning.
“Win lose or draw it’s going to be a great party because it’s the first time all the owners, Dave and myself have been able to get together and celebrate those Group 1 wins and celebrate what a great horse he is - it’s going to be a special day.”
Mick Sharkie works as a Bloodstock Advisor at Leneva Park and can be heard on Racing Pulse on RSN927 every Friday morning.