Wellfield Lodge stallion Vespa picked up his first win as a sire when Piaggio took out the NZB Insurance Pearl Series Race (1000m) at Tauherenikau on Thursday.
The first winner for Vespa, Piaggio - image Race Images
Benner was delighted to record Vespa's first win as a sire and said he was struck by the similarities between the pair when he inspected him at Karaka earlier this year and later went to $8,000 to secure him out of Three Valleys' Book 3 draft.
"It was definitely special," Benner said. "We obviously owe Vespa a lot."
"It was nice to purchase this fella for a minimal amount and have a chance of getting into the Karaka Million (RL, 1200m) hopefully.
"I thought he was very similar in the body to Vespa and very similar in a lot of ways. A lot of their features are the same and he had a little bounce about him."
Piaggio had two previous starts for a third-placing on debut before he parted ways with jockey Jason Waddell at Otaki last month. However, he made up for that hiccup with a dominant 1-1/2 length victory on Thursday.
"He has got a fair bit of ability, it was a good performance," Benner said. "Lisa (Allpress, jockey) rode him arrogantly, like the best horse in the race. For a tired horse, he has been through a bit in the last few weeks, he won dominantly."
He will now head for a brief break before being set for a tilt at the Karaka Million in January, a race his sire won in 2014.
"He will have a month in the paddock now," Benner said. "He has been through a bit. Our plan wasn't to come here, we were hoping if Otaki had gone to plan we would already have been out for a few weeks.
"He is very immature still, but we have got plenty of time. The main thing for us is to get a few more dollars in the bank and get around Auckland. It would be great to get him in the race." – NZ Racing Desk
