SPORT
sundayterritorian.com.au
Grey does it for Brown
Emboldened goes
six for six at Bay
WELTER
By GREGOR MACTAGGART
Scott Hillebrand pushes Emboldened across the line to win yesterday’s Welter (1100m) at Fannie Bay
Picture: DANIEL HARTLEY-ALLEN
STEPHEN Brown has trained
plenty
of
high-quality
sprinters during the years
and, in Emboldened, looks to
have a another smart one on
his hands.
The
grey
speedster
stretched his unbeaten record
at Fannie Bay to six starts
with a neat victory in
yesterday’s NT Motorcycle
Centre Welter (1100m).
Scott Hillebrand made it a
treble on the day for both
himself and the leading
trainer when the $2.00 favourite held off a fast-finishing
Dubawi Gold by threequarters of a length.
‘‘He’s a real honest horse
and I just love him to death,
he’s one of my favourites,’’
Hillebrand said.
Emboldened enjoyed a nice
run just off the speed in
transit behind Piclesia and
got the split at the home
turn, proving too strong over
the concluding stages in a
display that shows he is on
track for the Palmerston
Sprint (1200m) on August 4.
Brown, who has put the
polish on two Sprint winners
in Razamataz and Lord
Harold, hailed Emboldened’s
resolute nature post-race.
‘‘There’s not much of him,
He’s a real honest
horse and I just
love him to death,
he’s one of my
favourites
but he’s got a big ticker,’’
Brown said.
‘‘He got a nice run —
we wanted him to sit
behind them today and he
won well. He’ll improve on
that too.’’
Emboldened arrived at
Fannie Bay as a maiden
and has worked his way
through to open company in
strong fashion.
Yesterday’s
win
was
arguably his best yet,
stopping the clock in a slick
63.72 seconds — only 1.5
seconds outside the trackrecord held by another
Brown-trained
galloper
in Canali.
Dubawi Gold (Ben Hoppo)
proved an eye-catcher, while
Lucid Reflection went enormous under a searching 64kg
impost to run third, beaten
only a length and a quarter.
Bart praises ‘most wonderful horse’
By BRENT ZERAFA
LEGENDARY Australian trainer
Bart Cummings has hailed retiring galloper So You Think the
‘‘finest, most genuine horse I have
ever trained’’.
Cummings has trained 264
Group 1 winners, won 12 Melbourne Cups, seven Caulfield
Cups and five Cox Plates, including two with So You Think.
‘‘Perfection on four legs, I
couldn’t put it any better than
that,’’ Cummings said of the stallion. ‘‘You don’t get any better
than him, he is the finest, most
genuine horse I have ever trained.
‘‘And I’ve trained more than I
can remember.’’
Before Australian fell in love
with Black Caviar, So You Think
was king. A Cox Plate at three, another at four and a Melbourne
Cup third placing that was foiled
by atrocious weather, a ride even
ENDS
SEPT
30TH
So You Think farewells Bart
Cummings’ foreman Reg Fleming
before leaving for the UK
Cummings questioned, and a
French import called Americain.
He had it all. The looks, the
power, the record and the trainer.
He was worth about $50 million
when a business deal to sell a
controlling share to Irish breeding powerhouse Coolmore left
Australian race feeling hollow.
He has gone on to win an Australian record five Group 1s in
Europe, including winning in
front of Queen Elizabeth II at
Royal Ascot recently.
So You Think has ran in the
Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in
France and the Breeders Cup in
America. By doing so he proved to
the northern hemisphere what we
already knew Down Under.
But Bart Cummings, like many
Australians, still wonders what
he might have been able to achieve if he wasn’t sold.
‘‘He was one of the best horses
we have had,’’ he said. ‘‘If he had
stayed here, he could have won
four Cox Plates, not two. He was
the kindest, most wonderful horse
I’ve ever trained. His nature and
will to win were his best attributes. It was a great shame to see
the Australian racing public miss
him so early in his career.’’
So You Think will stand at
Coolmore Stud, near Jerrys
Plains, in the NSW Hunter Valley.
GREYHOUNDS
1013525
www.sundayterritorian.com.au
VETERAN chaser Charge Me
secured another feature triumph
for trainer Nick Day in Friday
night’s July Classic Final (537m)
at Winnellie Park.
From box eight, Charge Me
dictated terms throughout and
proved too strong for the
determined Benny Mite, with
Azura Spirit third.
The victory was the 17th in 68
starts for Charge Me, who was the
oldest runner in the race having
been whelped in December 2008.
In-form
speedster
Falun
extended her winning run with a
comfortable victory in the Holco
Meats Dash (312m).
The Graham Ferns-trained performer has now won five on the
trot and is fast earning a reputation as the punters’ pin-up.
While $1.50 shot Falun won,
$1.60-pop Just Proper was not so
fortunate, causing a fall that
quashed his hopes in the Water
Dynamics Dash (383m).
Admiral Cairo reaped the bene-
fits of the carnage behind him,
racing away for career win No. 3
from 15 starts.
It was the first leg of a winning
double for trainer Ron Phillips,
who prepared Happy Jordan to
take out the SBA Office National
Dash (383m). Happy Jordan ($2.70)
held off Semper Fidels, with
Cougar McRae third.
The night’s other winner was
Bubba Breeze, trained by Joel
Vansleve, who is enjoying a good
run of form in recent months.
— GREGOR MACTAGGART
Sunday, July 8, 2012. Sunday Territorian.
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PUB:
Good night for Day at Winnellie Park
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