Bargain buy McGaw produced a rags-to-riches result in the TBV VOBIS Platinum Showdown (1200m) for the training team of David and Emma-Lee Browne and for Swettenham Stud, whose stallions continue to dominate the $1 million marquee contest on Victorian Owners and Breeders Raceday at Caulfield.
After his fellow Swettenham resident Toronado had sired the inaugural Showdown winner Prince of Sussex (who now races in Hong Kong as Lucky Express) and 2023 heroine Shesallshenanigans, I Am Immortal enjoyed the biggest day of his fledgling stud career when his speedy son McGaw took his prizemoney and VOBIS bonus earnings past the $600,000 mark from just two starts.
The victory perhaps inspired mixed emotions for Dream Thoroughbreds’ director Dave Azzopardi, whose flying filly Befuddle (by Hanseatic) was denied a second straight win by McGaw - the horse he bred under his Havaparty Investments banner.
Dream Thoroughbreds acquired Mcgaw’s dam Niki Piki Milo - a Stakes winner in New Zealand - for a mere $16,000 at the 2020 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, with the Brownes paying $2,000 less to secure her fifth foal at last year’s Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale.
That relatively meagre investment has reaped spectacular rewards, with dizzying offers continuing to flood in for McGaw from home and abroad after he preserved his unbeaten record under Damian Lane. For now, those offers will continue to be rebuffed with his connections eyeing a lucrative spring campaign with their “long-legged dork”.
“That was very exciting, I’m a bit lost for words really,” admitted Emma-Lee Browne.
“We bought this horse cheaply and just thought hopefully he will win one race for us, then when he won his first race he’d already won back his purchase price.
“I liked his long legs when I saw him at the sale, so I bought him and then David tried to take the mickey out of me and said, ‘You know he’s got a wonky look.’ But I loved him anyway, he’s such an amazing horse but he is a bit of a dork. He’s got those big ears and he just wanders around, but then he gets out there and he does that, just amazing.
“It really is the land of opportunity here in Australia, when you can buy a horse for $14,000 and win a race for a million bucks. I’m incredibly proud of the horse and I’m also proud of Damian, I have to thank him for staying in Melbourne.”
Lane was delighted to play his part in a fairytale result for McGaw’s large ownership group, who celebrated long into the night.
“That’s everything racing a horse is all about, isn’t it?” said Lane.
“He was a cheap buy and the owners and trainers are great people who have just won a million-dollar race. So it’s what dreams are made of from an ownership point of view, and it’s really rewarding when you can provide a result like that.
“I was hoping they’d go a little bit quicker, given the way the track has played, so that I could find some cover. Luckily he’s a horse that does have a little bit of stamina, because he was out on his feet late but he did enough to hold on.
“He’s still very raw and he’s really not sure about his job yet. He’s a bit of a big kid. He goes to the barriers trying to take off and jump different coloured patches on the grass. So to be able to do what he’s doing on raceday, hopefully that means that with natural progression he can improve and we will see where he goes in the spring.”
I Am Immortal almost achieved a big race double with his three-year-old son Athanatos finishing runner-up in the other feature, the VOBIS Platinum Guineas (1600m).
Instead it was chestnut mare Benagil, sired by Manhattan Rain, who scored an emotional victory in the $500,000 race for 3YOs for her trainer Glen Thompson.
Thompson recently assumed sole control of Ballymore Stables at Flemington following the untimely passing of his training partner Mike Moroney, the gentle giant whose funeral will take place on Monday.
Benagil provided a poignant moment for the stable and her owners, including former Blue Gum Farm proprietors Philip and Patti Campbell, when she turned her form around under Mick Dee to secure the $275,000 first prize.
Bred by the Campbells, Benagil will now have her sights raised to the Group 1 Australasian Oaks, held at Morphettville on Saturday, 26 April.
“Phil Campbell has been a great supporter of ours,” said stable foreman Anthony Feroce.
“We trained the mother (Des Moines) and I think Phil also raced the grandmother (Inkster), then he gave us the daughter, so it’s a big thrill to win for him.
“I knew Mick had a lot of horse underneath him. She was luckless in the spring against some really good fillies, but today we just tried to take the luck out of it.
“I told Mick to just stay out wide, and he did that, then she exploded which was terrific to see. I got a bit worried towards the end there because the other horse made it a bit close. But it was good to get the result.
“The original plan was to run last week, but we didn’t think we could beat Matt Laurie’s very good filly (Treasurethe Moment). So we decided to bypass that and come here, and it’s worked out really well.”
Other notable winners at the annual celebration of Victoria’s racing and breeding industry included comeback queen Pride Of Jenni, who re-emerged from retirement in spectacular fashion with a dominant win in the Group 2 Peter Young Stakes (1800m).
The well-named Winnasedge, whose sire Cliff’s Edge continues to punch above his weight for Bombora Downs on the Mornington Peninsula, continued his winning ways with victory in the Cylinder VOBIS Gold Dash (1200m); whilst Written By extended the strong start to his stud career when his dashing daughter Samangu won the Donovan & Co Mystic Journey (1100m) for Grahame Begg, who trained her sire to Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m) glory back in 2018.
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