Poseidon franked his current sparkling form with a brilliant win in the $100,000 Super Easy 2013 Stakes, an Open Benchmark 97 race over 1400m on Sunday.
The New Zealand-bred five-year-old by Gold Centre has been back on an upward spiral since his first-up win in a Kranji Stakes A race over 1200m last November. At his third run from a break this year, the Olympian Stable-owned galloper was right back on target with a smart win in a Benchmark 83 race over 1400m on March 24.
Stepping back over 1400m again brought out the best in him. Taking a tow right behind race-leader Eclair Choice saw him in a prominent spot throughout, and after such an economical run over his pet trip (he scored five of his previous seven races over that distance), he just outsprinted his seven rivals once jockey Vlad Duric went full bore inside the last furlong.
Favourite Mr Fantastic (Nooresh Juglall, $13) endured a tough trip one off punching the breeze throughout, and could not muster a response when Poseidon ($16) kicked clear on his inside.
Brown’s charge rolled away to a comprehensive 2 ¾-length win from Mr Fantastic with Golden Curl (Wong Chin Chuen) third another half-length away. The winning time was 1min 22.2secs for the 1400m on the Long Course.
If there was any sign the Australian handler was delighted with his latest success, it was not all that obvious from his off-the-cuff remark at the post-race interview, but with 24 winners already on board, he could afford to throw in some light-hearted banter every now and then.
“He’s a lovely horse, but he’s not my best winner for this week,” said Brown with all the seriousness of a multiple-Group 1 winning trainer.
“The kids and I had our Olympics at home and those wins were a lot better!
“Seriously, Poseidon is a lovely horse and he’s going very well at the moment. He’s a genuine performer and he deserved today’s win.
“The way he is going, there is no reason why I wouldn’t look for a big race for him one day.”
Duric said Poseidon was a credit to the work done by Brown and his staff.
“We looked at the speedmap and it was the plan to sit in the box-seat,” said the current leading jockey.
“All he needed was a bit of luck. When he got a gap at the top of the straight, he quickened very well.
“Good on Cliffy and the boys. They’ve done a wonderful job with this horse and all their horses for that matter.”
Poseidon was registering his eighth win from 25 starts for stakes earnings that have now shot past the $520,000 mark for Astley Phua’s Olympian Stable.
