Benny the Dip

Benny the Dip
Racing colours of Landon Knight
Sire	Silver Hawk
Grandsire	Roberto
Dam	Rascal Rascal
Damsire	Ack Ack
Sex	Stallion
Foaled	1994
Country	United States
Colour	Bay/Brown
Breeder	Charles Landon Knight II
Owner	Charles Landon Knight II & Claiborne Farm
Trainer	John Gosden
Record	11: 5-3-2
Earnings	₤876,267
Major wins
Royal Lodge Stakes (1996) Epsom Derby (1997) Dante Stakes (1997)
Last updated on August 25, 2007

Benny the Dip (1994–2003) was an American-bred and British-trained Thoroughbred race horse and sire. In a career which lasted from 1996 to 1997 he ran eleven times and won five races, most notably the 1997 Epsom Derby. Benny the Dip was retired to stud at the end of his three-year-old season. He died after sustaining an injury in a paddock accident in 2003.

Benny the Dip was a dark brown (officially "bay or brown") colt with a white star, bred in the United States by Landon Knight who raced the colt in his own colours until August 1997 when he sold a share in the colt to Claiborne Farm. The colt was sired by Silver Hawk out of the mare Rascal Rascal. Silver Hawk was an American-bred son of Roberto who raced successfully in the United Kingdom before moving back to the United States where he became a "very good" stallion, siring good winners such as the St Leger winner Mutafaweq, the Arc de Triomphe runner-up Mubtaker and the leading American turf runner Hawkster. Rascal Rascal produced several other winners including Cryptic Rascal (Palm Beach Stakes) and Beggarman Thief (Horris Hill Stakes).

Benny the Dip was widely, but incorrectly reported to be named after a Damon Runyon character. In fact he was named after a 1951 crime film. He acquired the unflattering nickname "Benny the Drip" because of his tendency to sweat heavily before his races.

Knight, a newspaper publisher from Ohio (the son of John S. Knight), considered selling the colt as a yearling but was persuaded by his English trainer John Gosden to send the colt to him to be trained at Newmarket, Suffolk.

Benny the Dip was one of the best staying two-year-old colts of his generation in Britain, winning three of his five starts. He began his career in June when he finished second of the nine runners behind Putra in a seven furlong maiden race at Sandown. Two weeks later he reappeared in a similar race at Newmarket and led from the start to record his first win, beating Sturgeon by two and a half lengths.