Emotional win for Inter Dominion owner

Just hours earlier, Duffy visited his father’s grave just outside Shepparton and told him he was going to Sydney to win the sport’s biggest race with $50 outsider Boncel Benjamin.

“I lost my Dad in a car crash when I was just 21. I always wanted to name a horse after him when a really good horse came along and this was the one.

“Dad’s name was Boncel Benjamin Duffy. I’ve never heard of anyone else called Boncel.

“This horse always had ability, but he’s done three tendons and it looked like he’d never fulfill his potential.”

It was just back in March when Boncel Benjamin raced in a “claimer” where all horses were for sale. You’d have bought him for just $35,000.

“Thankfully nobody did, probably because of his injury history,” Duffy said.

Soon after Duffy thought Boncel Benjamin, renowned for his early gate speed and brilliance, would be best suited moving to Menangle where they run so many mile (sprint races).

He called top Victorian trainer David Aiken, who ironically had Max Delight and Malcolms Rhythm in last night’s final, to ask if he would train Boncel Benjamin. Aiken was on an extended working holiday at Menangle at the time.

“David said he was coming home the next week and suggested I send him to either Jason (Grimson) or Jack (Trainor). He thought ‘Grimmo’ might be the best suited because he’s such a hand-on trainer with horses who’ve had issues,” Duffy said.

Grimson only got hold of Boncel Benjamin in late September and 10 weeks later wins the Inter Dominion final.

“He surprised me tonight. To burn out early like that and still finish the race off so strong, that was incredible,” he said.

“We thought we could win a few sprint races with him and maybe have a go at a race like the Miracle Mile, but he just kept getting better and better.

“When the Inter Dominion was coming up so quickly, we thought we’d enter him and have a crack at it.”

Regular driver Josh Gallagher jumped off Boncel Benjamin in the series to drive Burnham Boy. It was only 4pm last Monday when he was asked by Grimson to reunite with the speedster and take his first drive in an Inter Dominion final.

“Harness racing has been my life. You grow up dreaming of races like the Miracle Mile and Inter Dominion. This is my first Group 1 win and it’s come in an Inter Dominion. It hasn’t fully sunk in,” Gallagher said.

Gallagher became the second youngest driver to win an Inter Dominion final. He turned 21 on November 6, while Chris Lewis was just 20 when he won aboard Carclew in the 1976 Adelaide pacing final.

But Gallagher had to win it in the stewards’ room, successfully arguing tactics of David Moran on Expensive Ego, who was first past the post by a head, had denied him a certain victory.

“100 per cent there was a run up the inside and he took my running. I was going to win for sure and easily,” Gallagher said.

Stewards agreed and reversed the result for the first time in the history of the Inter Dominion, which dates back to 1936.

By Adam Hamilton for News Corp