Brigadoon Rise upsets odds-on favourite
Brigadoon Rise has enhanced her standing even further with trainer Peter Snowden, winning at Warwick Farm at the expense of an odds-on favourite.
In a result that not even Snowden was confident to predict despite $31 to $26 support, Brigadoon Rise secured a rails run for Kerrin McEvoy to win the Cellarbrations Handicap on Wednesday.
Left in the filly’s wake were To Be Sure and Chetwood, the $1.75 favourite for Godolphin who seemed to have his chance in front before finishing in the minor placing.
“She trialled all right without doing anything spectacular and I thought she might be a bit ring rusty today and she might need this race to bring her to her top,” Snowden said.
Brigadoon Rise started twice as a two-year-old, closing out her first season with a Canterbury win that Snowden said had more merit to it than a usual midweek victory.
“She showed ability last preparation and the form out of both her races has stacked right up,” Snowden said.
Brigadoon Rise’s win consolidated Snowden and his son Paul in third position in the Sydney trainers’ premiership.
They ended the meeting with a treble after wins to Happy Hannah and Ravi that edged them further clear of fourth-placed Gai Waterhouse.
Godolphin jockey James McDonald blamed Chetwood’s 61kg and the horse’s racing style for the gelding’s costly defeat.
In a same way as he did to win on debut at Canterbury last month, Chetwood made his way to the front but offered little resistance when challenged at the 200m.
“He felt just as comfortable as he did last time but obviously it was weaker opposition last time,” McDonald told stewards.
“I thought I had cheap enough sectionals early on for him to roll into the bend but he boxed on better than he accelerated.”
McDonald said Chetwood made life difficult for himself in his races.
“With the weight and him being a sitting duck he has to do it the hard way and it’s going to be like that for the rest of his life,” he said.
Prominent owner Wilf Mula will have Golden Slipper runners next week and his winning run continued with Crafty Cop in the TAB More Than Winning Handicap.
Having his first start, Crafty Cop improved on his barrier trial form to lead and beat Godolphin duo Grincheux and Regenesis.
Described by co-trainer Michael Hawkes as “the man with the Midas touch”, Mula is a part-owner of second favourite Flying Artie as well as French Fern who won the Reisling Stakes last Saturday to earn a Golden Slipper start.