Top jockey Corey Brown’s ability to switch to Plan B has been proven many times, but Bogart’s hard-fought win in the $80,000 Class 3 race over 1400m on Sunday showcased a hidden talent – that of a juggler.
The Australian never intended to lead with the Darci Brahma four-year-old, but with no other party interested to show the way, he decided to take the responsibility. Once in front, Brown could only pray they would go the distance, but when These Streets (Manoel Nunes) came poking his head in front at the 200m, he had to dig deep into his bag of tricks – quite literally.
Refusing to concede defeat, Brown scrubbed up the $15 favourite for a second wind as any other jockey in his place would do, but he also came up with an impromptu flash of brilliance.
In the heat of the moment, Brown nearly lost his whip when he accidentally flicked it off, but in a split second, he caught the airborne persuader in mid-air before, amazingly, wielding it again to winning effect.
While the nifty trick escaped most eyes, Brown was pretty chuffed with the mini-feat, but fell short of putting down the neck-victory over Knight Wager (Benny Woodworth) to it.
“Watch the whip go,” he exclaimed as he watched the TV replay. “I thought I lost it but I don’t know how I caught it and the horse went again.
“Little things didn’t go my way in the race. First, I didn’t want to lead, but nobody wanted to lead either.
“I thought a couple of others like Matty’s horse (Lign Em Up) would lead and would lead him up, but it wasn’t to be and I didn’t have any other option but to go forward.
“The pace was not too frantic, just nice and steady, and I had a good control of the race. But then, I was headed by Manoel’s horse, which was not good.
“It was down to how much he had left in the tank. He was overlugged with some weight and there’s not much of him but he really toughed it out in the last bit.”
Freedman was full of praise for Brown’s ride and his mastery with the whip, adding that Bogart was a honest bread-and-butter sort he will just potter around in similar events.
“What Corey did at the 200m was pretty neat. Full credit to him,” he said.
“It was a good effort considering it was the Long Course. He was there to get run down but he kept going all the way to the line.
“He’s a genuine horse but that is probably his mark. I may look for a Benchmark 83 race over 1400m for him.”
Bogart has now recorded five wins and seven placings from 16 starts for stakes earnings in excess of $260,000 for the Mummify Stable.
Knight Wager, who had Woodworth replacing regular partner Michael Rodd who could not make the weight, had no clear room for most of the home straight, but looked like he would swamp the leaders when he finally found daylight, but Bogart proved a shade stronger.
