\n\t\t\t\t\tBy Paul Symes\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Listen<\/p>\n
The Coolmore Stud Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) has traditionally been the domain of the rich and famous, but David and Emma-Lee Browne will be gatecrashing the party with their $14,000 bargain buy McGaw after the speedy son of I Am Immortal (I Am Invincible) bounced out of his first stakes win last Saturday.<\/p>\n
Blueblood colts Switzerland (Snitzel), Home Affairs (I Am Invincible), Ozzmosis (Zoustar) and Exceedance (Exceed And Exel) were all whisked off to stud shortly after winning the Coolmore, but there will be no need for the Hunter Valley farms to approach the Brownes should their gelded \u201cgoofball\u201d upstage his supposed superiors at Flemington on Saturday, November 1.<\/p>\n
McGaw\u2019s unfashionable breeding and paltry price-tag is perfectly in keeping with the Brownes\u2019 training philosophy and their low-key, no fuss approach to life in general, with an admirable unwillingness to take themselves too seriously providing a refreshing contrast in an industry which is often mired in politics and occasional backstabbing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Their determination to enjoy the journey persuaded McGaw\u2019s motley crew of owners to knock back some seriously tempting offers from Hong Kong in the wake of his breakout win in the $1 million VOBIS Platinum Showdown (1200m), and their steadfast resolve has been duly rewarded with a crack at the Coolmore \u2013 potentially via the Gothic Stakes (Listed, 1400m) at Caulfield on Saturday week.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With regular rider Damian Lane unavailable on Victoria Derby Day given his riding commitments at the Tenno Sho meeting in Tokyo, Lachie Neindorf is tipped to take over in the saddle for the Coolmore due to his impressive recent form and his intimate knowledge of the horse, having routinely partnered McGaw at trackwork and in his recent Flemington jumpout.<\/p>\n
The decision is yet to be officially rubber-stamped, but what is certain is that McGaw has now banked almost 60 times his purchase price having taken his prize-money haul to $835,720 with victory in the Danehill Stakes (Gr 2, 1100m) at Flemington last Saturday.<\/p>\n
Given that the Coolmore carries a prize fund of $2 million, there is every chance that his impressive tally will receive another significant hike but McGaw, with his tendency to daydream one minute and stargaze the next, is blissfully unaware of what is at stake.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing bothers or fazes this horse and he came through the run super,\u201d Emma-Lee Browne told ANZ News.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe ate everything on Saturday night and was back to his usual goofy self on Sunday. He still doesn\u2019t know what he\u2019s meant to be doing half the time, either in the stables or at the races, but I suppose that\u2019s all part of his charm.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re just working out how we get to the Coolmore, whether we give him another run in the Gothic or just go straight into it with maybe a jumpout the week before. He had quite a big gap between races when he won The Showdown, that seemed to suit him so it\u2019s definitely something we\u2019d consider again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI also think the jumpout leading into the Danehill Stakes was a big factor in him winning the race, because it gave him another look at the straight and seemed to help spark him up and get him switched on a bit more. He was still green and had a good look around in the race, but once Damian wound him up he really flew home so it was a massive thrill for everyone in the stable and his owners to see him win a race like that against some quality sprinters.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe after he ran fifth at his previous start [in the Poseidon Stakes] some of the owners might have regretted turning down the money from Hong Kong, but I\u2019m sure they\u2019re delighted they stuck fat with him now. Obviously the Coolmore will be another huge step up for him and he\u2019ll need to find a few lengths, but his coat hasn\u2019t come through yet so there\u2019s still plenty of scope for improvement.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be honest we\u2019re all just pinching ourselves that we\u2019ve got a horse even capable of running in the race, but the horse is in great form and he\u2019s never let us down in the past. He\u2019s been a real marvel and even though we\u2019ll be going up against some of the best sprinters in the world, you only get one crack at the Coolmore so we\u2019ll be giving it a shot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Victory for McGaw, who is rated a $14 chance in the early Coolmore markets, would mark a first at racing\u2019s highest level for emerging stallion I Am Immortal. At a service fee of just $8,800 (inc GST) and with two stakes winners to his name, the Swettenham Stud resident represents tremendous value.<\/p>\n
With Toronado (High Chaparral) out of action this breeding season due to a significant recent infection and lameness, I Am Immortal and his barn companions will need to take up the mantle at Swettenham.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If McGaw or Philip Stokes\u2019 Toorak Handicap (Gr 1, 1600m) contender Athanatos (I Am Immortal) can make a timely breakthrough over the coming weeks, the phone of the farm\u2019s principal Adam Sangster is likely to be running hot with some last-minute bookings.<\/p>\n
Given that they tend to shop at the lower end of the market, the Brownes quickly caught onto the fact that I Am Immortal\u2019s prodigy were quite capable of outperforming their modest price tags and promptly acquired a handful of his yearlings at the sales earlier this year, including filly Got Tickets who trialled at Caulfield last week.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The one that got away, however, was Lot 354 at the Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale, which was instead knocked down to Busuttin Racing. If Team Browne had the benefit of hindsight, with $571,000 in prize-money about to fill the coffers, they might have been in a position to increase their budget \u2013 as Emma-Lee explained.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe love the breed and we did try to buy McGaw\u2019s full-sister at the sales, but we came up just short,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we went to $150,000 and she sold for $160,000, so it was a shame to miss out on her but the sale was just before his win in The Showdown. If it had been afterwards, I reckon we would have come away with her because the owners could\u2019ve definitely afforded another bid or two with the money they won.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut that\u2019s life and we\u2019ve still got a few nice two-year-olds by I Am Immortal in the stable which we really like, so hopefully one of them goes on to become the next McGaw.\u201d<\/p>\n
McGaw wasn\u2019t the only impressive performer on Saturday, with stablemate Pondalowie (Deep Field) making up significant late ground to finish fourth behind Miraval Rose (Grunt) in the Rose Of Kingston Stakes (Gr 2, 1400m).\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her co-trainers are now toying with the idea of backing her up at Caulfield this Saturday, either in the Toorak Handicap or the Ladies\u2019 Day Vase (Gr 3, 1600m).\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a much-improved run and she\u2019s really enjoying getting up in distance now,\u201d said Browne.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a little bit frustrating because she\u2019s been slow away in her previous runs, whereas on Saturday she jumped well but we had to go back from the wide gate anyway. But she really closed off really sharply and has pulled up very well. We will consider backing her up on Saturday because she\u2019s definitely ready for the mile now, but we\u2019ll see how the fields look before making any decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n
One horse who will be lining up on Saturday is Scary (Shocking) as the four-year-old bids to build on his last-start runner-up finish in the R.M. Ansett Classic (Listed, 2415m).\u00a0<\/p>\n
Given that he currently sits in 38th place in the Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m) order of entry, Scary would in all likelihood need to win Saturday\u2019s Herbert Power Stakes (Gr 2, 2400m) and incur a weight penalty in order to guarantee a start in Australia\u2019s most famous race.<\/p>\n
The Brownes were on track to saddle up their first Melbourne Cup runner when Basilinna (Staphanos) earned a golden ticket via the Andrew Ramsden Stakes (Listed, 2800m), only for a chipped fetlock to dash their hopes; but with Scary bouncing back to the sort of form that saw him finish second in last year\u2019s Victoria Derby (Gr 1, 2500m), the dream is still very much alive.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to get his rating up to scrape into the Cup, but it was just great to see him find some form at Mornington last time,\u201d said Browne.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHis run was fantastic and he was still carrying a little bit of condition, so he possibly peaked on his run but he should be even fitter on Saturday. He\u2019s a big horse and he wobbled a little bit coming round the turn there at Mornington, so getting back on a bigger track like Caulfield should definitely suit him. It would obviously be a dream to have a runner in the Melbourne Cup, so hopefully we can get there with him.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Paul Symes Listen The Coolmore Stud Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) has traditionally been the domain of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":182195,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[3004,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-182194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-racing","tag-racing","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182194"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182194\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/182195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=182194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=182194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}