55 wins for Benn's Fire

When she broke stride on Aug. 31 and came out of the race injured, her future clearly looked to be in the breeding shed, but just four months later, Benn's Fire is back and beating the best. She won for the 55th time in her career when she scored in 1:59 Thursday night at Cal Expo.

Prior to starting from post-position five in the field of seven, regular pilot Bruce Clarke saw no reason to dismiss the chances of one of his all-time favorites.

"She has always been a very good mare, and despite the class rise, I felt she couldn't be left out for a chance to win," said Clarke. "The strategy, like always, was to race her from behind."

To no ones surprise, Benn's Fire came away near the back, sixth to be exact. To everyone’s surprise, Desperatehousewife (Todd Ratchford) left for the lead, a move Clarke didn't mind.

"I was kind of liking it when Desperatehousewife left because usually, to my recollection, she's not as good on the front-end."

With the field at the quarter-mile pole, timed in :28.4, Clarke liked where he was. "I was sitting in a good position at the quarter-pole because I was behind Oatmeister (driven by Brad Irvine), and I know that he usually will come first-up. So I was just waiting for him to make his move."

Getting second-over cover at the 7-16 mile pole behind Oatmeister, Benn's Fire began to steadily move up as the field reached the half-mile pole, timed in 1:00, a time that pleased Clarke. "When I saw the first-half mile time was in a minute, I knew that my mare would be very good off of the slow half."

Following pretty live cover in the final-turn, Clarke and Benn's Fire found themselves just two lengths from the lead, while fourth at the three-quarter mile pole, timed in 1:30.2. "I was still sitting pretty comfortable from where I was at and was just waiting to tip her three-deep," Clarke said.

Waiting until the field was less then 3-16 of a mile from home to tip three-wide, Clarke would ask and receive. "Once I urged her after I tipped her three-wide, she kicked into gear and pulled away from them. After I urged her and she got going and was in flight, I was just sitting there."

Trotting strongly into the lead at midstretch, Benn's Fire drew away late to win by one length.

Owned by trainer Mark Anderson, the 10-year-old Benn's Fire was making her 100th career start.


"Trainer Mark Anderson and I are just amazed that she's back racing, given that she had an injury in her August 31 start from last year that laid her off, plus she hasn't been trained back much since coming back to the races, yet still has been able to not only compete, but win at this level. To say the least, this has Mark and I ecstatic," Clarke finished.



Patio Pete (Steve Wiseman) followed Benn's Fire and was second, and Oatmeister finished just a nose farther back, in third.

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