Gallant but still very green, would best sum up Big Brother after he gained a win in the Stewards’ room on Friday night.
Rising in class in the $80,000 Class 3 race over 1600m, the Argentinian-bred four-year-old son of Orpen sat in the gun run from the start, tracking up the bunny Brilliant Deal (Alan Munro) before taking it up at the 400m. That is when his greenness kicked in: Under Nooresh Juglall’s whip, he shifted in first before sharply rolling back to the middle once his rider corrected him.
The gallant part then rose to the fore inside the last furlong. A lesser horse might have lost the plot, but he was able to regroup and gamely knuckled down to the task, especially with the imminent threat hailing from short-priced favourite Lim's Cruiser (Vlad Duric) sneaking up along the rails, while Gilt Complex (Glen Boss) was also chiming in on the outside.
Big Brother ($56) actually seemed to find another length as he came under siege to eventually prevail by a short head from Gilt Complex with Lim’s Cruiser third another neck away.
Juglall, who had won one race earlier aboard Masurao, could not pop the champagne just yet when the inquiry sign was flashed. Duric objected against the winner for alleged interference at the 400m, but after deliberation, the Stewards dismissed the protest and the Mauritian rider could jubilate.
“I was quite confident I would keep the race. My horse was quite green but Vlad’s horse had plenty of time to make ground, but he couldn’t and my horse actually kicked again when he felt another horse coming up,” said Juglall.
“This horse has always carried a lot of weight but tonight he had only 54kg on his back, and I think that was a big factor in the win.
“He beat a pretty smart field tonight and I think there is more room for improvement, as he’s still very immature.”
Assistant-trainer Ricardo Le Grange praised Juglall’s handling of the Patrick Shaw yard’s 67th winner for the season, which edges them to only four winners off current lamplighter Alwin Tan.
“It was a very good ride by Nooresh. The horse won a very good race in a smart field,” said the South African.
“We’ve tried all sorts of gear on him, pacifiers, blinkers, winkers, but I still think he’s learning what racing is all about. Like tonight, he was stargazing when he got to the front.
“But when the penny drops, he’ll be an even better horse. A big thank you must go to his Thai owners as they’ve been good supporters of ours for a while now.”
With that third win, Big Brother has now rounded up more than $130,000 in stakes earnings for the Falcon Racing No 3 Stable.
