Flemington next for Stealth Of Night
While Will Hayes is confident Stealth Of Night possesses the talent to progress beyond benchmark level, the immediate goal is to continue taking advantage of her current form.
The daughter of Night Of Thunder is set to contest the $130,000 Benchmark 74 over 1400 metres on Saturday at Flemington.
Raced by Trilogy Racing, Stealth Of Night is chasing a winning hat-trick after claiming back-to-back Benchmark 70 races at Sandown in December, and Hayes, who trains alongside brothers Ben and JD, believes she is continuing to improve.
“She’s a very exciting mare, she’s obviously had quite an intensive injury history previous to this preparation and it’s just taken time to get it back to where she needs to be,” Hayes said.
“She’s been very tough the way that she’s won at Sandown, doing all the work from wide gates and then lifting herself off the canvas and putting them away.
“The way that she’s been winning in the benchmark races suggests he has a very good ability to progress.”
Stealth Of Night’s most recent Sandown victory under Craig Williams saw her rating lifted to 78, meaning she will carry 60kg this weekend, although Hayes said the team is considering engaging apprentice Jackson Radley and using his 3kg claim.
Her only other appearance this preparation produced a narrow first-up second at Cranbourne on Cup Day, while earlier in 2025 she recorded two wins at Pakenham during the autumn.
Those performances followed a 15-month layoff after her debut run, where she finished second in a Geelong maiden in December 2023, and Hayes said it has been rewarding to finally build continuity into her racing.
Markets are open with major betting platforms for the Flemington Benchmark 74, giving punters a range of options ahead of the weekend feature.
“Because she missed so much of her racing life being injured, we did go the conservative approach, to build her through the grades, but she has good ability and now she’s really coping with every challenge we give her,” he said.
The post Flemington next for Stealth Of Night first appeared on Just Horse Racing.
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