The stable of Emma-Lee and David Brown achieved their greatest success to date as Mcgaw prevailed in The Showdown at Caulfield, with plans now to duplicate it after 12 months.
McGaw’s $1 million Showdown conquest last year was the Brownes’ standout Australian victory until the three-year-old claimed the Group 2 Danehill Stakes (1100m) at Flemington last spring.
Representing the Brownes in Saturday’s The Showdown (1200m) is Lomu, who unlike McGaw enters for his track debut.
McGaw kicked off with a Pakenham maiden before Caulfield glory, and after Tuesday’s Caulfield gallop, the Brownes resolved to unleash Lomu this weekend.
“It’s a little bit of a throw at it but he’s trialled up good,” Emma-Lee Browne said.
“At this time of year in two-year-old racing you come up against a horse or horses that have won, so we thought if he came through his gallop all good, it’s an idea.
“A lot of the people that were in McGaw are in this horse as well, so it would be very nice to be there again and go and give it a bit of a nudge as well.”
Lomu, a son of I Am Immortal like McGaw, came at a bargain $10,000 price tag.
“The same reason I loved McGaw, I love this horse,” Browne said.
“He was big, he was scopey, he had big ears. He wandered around having a look at things and seemed pretty happy.
“Hopefully he can run similar.”
Browne admires I Am Immortal’s get, despite escalating costs at yearling auctions post-McGaw’s Danehill win.
“Luckily our first two have been pretty good buys and I really rated the stallion, I think he’s very, very good,” Browne said.
“A lot of the horses by I Am Immortal can really gallop and have shown something.”
Last year’s Showdown result boosted ownership ranks, and Browne welcomes more triumphs.
“We’ve been able to increase our numbers by a fair few,” Browne said.
“We’ve got a few more yearlings this year, so it’s an exciting time of the year to have the young ones around.”
The Brownes start Basilinna’s autumn campaign in the Group 2 Peter Young Stakes (1800m) post her Tuesday Pakenham jump-out.
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