Brave Mead leads home smart Manfred Stakes field
Brave Mead (Brave Smash) provided another boost for his emerging sire and another late stakes win for Ciaron Maher and David Eustace with a commanding all-the-way victory in yesterday’s Manfred Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) at Caulfield.
Having become Brave Smash’s maiden black–type victor with a Listed two-year-old win at The Valley last March, Brave Mead resumed yesterday as an easy $5 third-favourite in a six-horse field and led throughout and have the three-year-old sprint won by the 200-metre mark, ultimately winning by a length.
On Ciaron Maher and David Eustace’s penultimate day as a partnership before the latter’s departure to Hong Kong, stablemate King Colorado (Kingman, $11) helped the pair to the quinella with a much improved first-up run to take second.
Paul Preusker’s Steparty (Artie Schiller), the eagerly-awaited $2.20 favourite after winning his first five starts, including two stakes races last spring, raced on Brave Mead’s outside before fading in the straight to finish a length further back in third. New Zealand import Carbonados (Belardo), a well–supported $3.80 second favourite seeking a third win from as many starts, was last.
Brave Smash (Tosen Phantom) has racked up a series of impressive results since being acquired from Queensland’s Aquis Park last year to stand alongside I Am Invincible at Yarraman Park, where his fee was raised from $22,000 to $33,000.
Aside from Brave Mead’s impressive impressive progress for spring results including a Caulfield win and three stakes placings, Brave Smash’s Sydney filly Kimochi unfurled a superb spring campaign of six runs for as many black-type placings, with two Group 1 seconds.
Brave Smash now has 23 winners from 42 runners, with Brave Mead’s win under Blake Shinn yesterday lifting the 10-year-old stallion to fifth on the Australian second-season sires’ table.
Racing in Australian Bloodstock’s colours, Brave Mead was bought from an Inglis online sale when offered by Lustre Lodge at the height of a COVID lockdown in July 2021, with Maher buying the weanling for $90,000 sight unseen.
The tenth named foal of two-time winner Mead (Galileo), he’s a half-brother to Geelong Classic (L, 2200m) winner Solemn (Bernadini), the stakes-placed Honeywine (Street Cry), and to the dam of Gloaming Stakes (Gr 3, 1800m) winner Raf Attack (Satono Aladdin).
The 20-year-old Mead was covered again by Brave Smash last month, after slipping a Tassort (Brazen Beau) foal and missing to Hellbent (I Am Invincible) in the previous two years.
Maher was full of praise for Brave Mead yesterday, after the colt’s fourth win took his earnings from 10 starts past $500,000.
“He’s been a great little horse. I said to Blake to take the luck out of it. He took the bit between his teeth, got to the front, and that was the winning move,” Maher said. “He was only a cheap enough horse but he’s been very good.”
Maher also confirmed the Australian Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) at Flemington on March 2 would be King Colorado’s target, after the JJ Atkins (Gr 1, 1600m) winner’s “super” resumption yesterday.
He’s set for a Guineas showdown with Steparty, who’s trainer Preusker was still satisfied with his effort yesterday, despite punters being let down.
“All in all, knowing where his fitness is at and things just didn’t go his way, it was a good effort,” Preusker told Racing.com.
“He needed the run. He came out racing and he was caught deep. Then John Allen took hold of him to give him a sit and then they kicked again when he finally got him to relax and then he had to chase again. He just got a bit tired.”
On the final day of their uber-successful partnership, Maher and Eustace have a strong chance of one more feature win together today, in The Valley’s Australia Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m). They will saddle Recommendation (Shalaa) and Southport Tycoon (Written Tycoon), who were last night $3.20 and $5 chances behind $2.20 favourite Veight (Grunt).
The Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr trained Ayrton (Iffraaj) chalked up a fourth black–type win in narrowly taking yesterday’s John Dillon Stakes (L, 1400m).
Starting a $3.80 favourite in an eight-horse field, Ayrton sat fourth in the run under Kah, was brought three wide on the turn, collared leader Buffalo River (Noble Mission) at the 100 metres and held off the fast-finishing Ka Bling (Capitalist) to win by a nose.
Buffalo River held on for third, while former boom mare Yonce (Proisir), who won her first six starts in 2021-22, was a fair length-and-a-quarter fifth in her second start after 20 months off.
Ayrton, the second-last foal of deceased mare Odessa (Falkirk), has now won eight of 21 starts for earnings of $906,000.
In yesterday’s remaining black–type race at Caulfield, Adelaide five-year-old gelding Queman (Mint Lane) flew home to win the WJ Adams Stakes (L, 1000m) by a length-and-a-quarter under Harry Coffey.
Trained by Shane and Cassie Oxlade, the homebred Queman is the sole named foal of country maiden winner Langreen (Clangalang), who was covered by Twin Hills Stud stallion Peltzer (So You Think) last spring.
Start at $7, Queman beat Najem Suhail (Starpansgledbanner, $5.50) into second with four-year-old stallion Sweet Ride (Deep Field) third. Godolphin four-year-old mare Va Via (Astern, $3.30 fav) appeared disappointing in running last of the eight starters.
Queman is the second stakes-winner in Australia for the obscure Mint Lane (Maria’s Mon), who was brought to Australia in 2010 and retired in 2019. His other also came in Listed class, via Willi Willi in the 2018 Albury Cup (2000m).