3 minute read
If anybody needed any convincing this year’s Polytrack Mile Championship is the best ever assembled, just ask jockey Corey Brown.
The top Australian hoop said it was the hottest field he has seen since plying his trade at Kranji in the last 10 months, barring of course the two International Group 1 races in May.
When champion miler Better Than Ever took out the inaugural Polytrack Group 3 feature in 2011, he was the clear standout in a moderate line-up. There was a little more depth in the 2012 renewal, but they could do little to thwart Flying Fulton’s superiority on the alternative surface, while Nandowra came out tops in a small six-horse field last year.
When one looks at the entries for this year's fourth installment, it is clear Brown's words were anything but drivel. The field is so replete with quality that two decent chances like Goliath and Gold Rutile could not make the cut into the top 12, ending up as the two Emergency Acceptors.
Taking pride of place in Friday night’s Weight-For-Age event is former champion three-year-old Stepitup, but the names rolling off after him are just as stellar. At the top end, heavyweights such as Super Ninetyseven, Trudeau, Wild Geese, Dujardin and Speedy Cat up against new kids on the block like Johnny Guitar and impressive last-start winner Sir Lovesalot.
Throw in previous Polytrack Mile Championship winners Flying Fulton and Nandowra and we are in for a mouth-watering contest that has everyone coming up with his own favourite pick.
Brown for one is glad he has the Bruce Marsh-trained Trudeau in his corner. The pair who have already combined successfully at Group level when they landed the Group 3 Garden City Trophy (1200m) last September, turned in a blinder at the Tuesday barrier trials when a closing second to El Padrino without looking like he ever got out of second gear.
“Take out the International races, this is the hottest field I have seen since I’ve been here,” said Brown who rode Mr Big to eighth place behind Hong Kong star sprinter Lucky Nine in the KrisFlyer International Sprint last May.
“I could have jumped on a few of them for this race, but Bruce told me three weeks ago his last prep had been logged towards that race. I decided to bite the bullet and stick with him for the next nine months.
“I won a good race with him last year and Bruce has been one of my No 1 stables since I came here. The owners (Arexevan Racing Stable) have also been very good to me.
“I’m really rapt with the way Trudeau is going and wouldn’t swap him with anyone else. He just had a pipe-opener this morning and trialled very well.
“He was fit enough and Bruce said he just needed a gallop. He ran second to Johnny Guitar first-up over 1400m (February 2) and has tightened up from that.
“It’s lovely what he’s doing as he’s an absolute gem of a horse. He’s a push-button type of horse, you just point him in the right direction and he does the rest.”
Brown is hoping to maintain a steady winning momentum that has seen him rack up another double (Victory Achiever and Mia) last Sunday, though his most recent Australian hit-and-run visit at Flemington last Saturday drew a blank this time.
“I did it more as a favour to Tony Vasil. His horse Prince Harada didn’t run all that bad in the Australian Guineas, but I told him he needs to be gelded,” said Brown who won aboard Leebaz in Sydney last Saturday week.
“His other horse Under The Eiffel didn’t win either, but he was probably my best ride the whole day.”
With Brown’s motto “have good rides, will travel” having been well heard back home, those one-day trips are not about to end anytime soon. Brown is pencilled in to ride Real Surreal for John Hawkes in the Group 1 Coolmore Classic (1500m) at Rosehill Gardens in Sydney on March 22.
Besides the obvious upside of keeping a foot in the door in his old backyard, especially during the big carnivals, Brown derives another more fitness-related benefit from those jaunts.
“I really don’t mind flying home for the good rides. I actually ride better when I get back here on Sunday,” said Brown.
“We don’t ride often here and I think getting one more meeting in between the two Kranji meetings helps me stretch up and limber up better.”