The multimillion colts where nowhere to be seen as Brazen Beau raced his way into the breeding barn by winning the group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200 metres) at Flemington on Saturday.
In the past few months, shares had been sold in favourites Rich Enuff and Rubick, which were down the track, but there was no interest in the winner before the $500,000 feature for three-year-olds.
“We haven’t had any stud contact us about him, which has been surprising,” syndicate manager Grant Morgan said.
The son of boom stallion I Am Invincible raced away from arguably the best Coolmore in history to win by 1-1/4 lengths from stablemate Delectation, while another Sydneysider, Kuro, was a neck back in third.
The offers are sure to come and start in the 10s of millions.
It was the final piece in the puzzle Yarraman Park Stud boss Harry Mitchell, who was the underbidder when Brazen Beau was sold for $70,000, for his star stallion I Am Invincible and he might be in the market for his son.
“I Am Invincible has sold well already but that’s the cream on top, getting a group 1,” Mitchell said. “They will be lining up to buy him now because he was comprehensive.”
It was a classic straight six as the field broke into two packs where the headwind played a big role but, down the outside from barrier 15, the best colt shook off his rivals inside the 200m and scored a dominant win.
He extended the margin, drawing praise from Joao Moreira.
“He is the type of horse every jockey would like to be riding, he is kind and he does everything right,” the global star said.
“He jumped beautiful and got good cover. He wasn’t travelling too keenly and was not off the bit. I got him a clear run he started to pick up not under any pressure.
“When he got there I knew he was going to win. Lovely colt and a great job by the team, and I just finished it.”
The grandstand-side horses had a huge advantage and Rubick and Earthquake were left lamenting their draw after being on the inside of the track.
Rubick was gone by halfway, while Earthquake battled to finish eighth.
“They were three lengths in front of us by the 600m and he was gone. We were on the wrong side of the track and had no cover,” Rubick’s trainer Gerald Ryan said.
Earthquake’s trainer John O’Shea simply said “we should have scratched”.
Eloping and Rich Enuff led the grandstand-side but dropped out after being the windbreaks and left sitting shots.
“Obviously the Guineas probably took it out of him,” Rich Enuff’s rider Michael Rodd said. “He had a lovely run, he was switched off and I was cantering at the 400, but they just left us for dead and he didn’t have anything left.”
There were no excuses behind the winner, even placegetters gave him the nod of approval.
“I had good cover and he weaved through and hit the line hard but was no match for the winner,” said Damien Oliver, who rode runner-up Delectation.
While Blake Shinn on third placegetter Kuro added: “I followed the winner everywhere but he just sprinted away from me, but by bloke was very good and will get better.”
This was a victory for patience and timing for trainer Chris Waller, who won the race for the second year in a row after Zoustar did the job last term, and another group 1 quinella. But he took pride in the victory.
“it doesn’t get any better than that because you doubt yourself and it proves we got it right,” he said.
Brazen Beau has shown quality from the time he stepped onto the track but Waller held him back for the Brisbane winter knowing what he had.
“It is all about not putting our horses under too much pressure too early,” Waller said. “Once you know they have ability, look after them.
“People get wrapped up in the Golden Slipper, but in the past two years we turned colts into million-dollar products by doing the right thing and waiting with them.
“It is why this bloke didn’t run in the Golden Rose. It just came around too quick for him.
“We didn’t panic, that was hard because we knew we had a horse good enough to win a Golden Rose and he was at home.”
Source: Chris Roots