Cliff Brown went to the races with one runner and returned home with one winner on Friday night.
Brown would certainly not mind having such evenings, more so when the 100% record was achieved in Race 3, a S$50,000 Class 4 Division 3 race over 1200m. The crew could head home early for a few relaxing celebratory drinks.
But as the typically self-effacing Brown himself said during the post-race interviews, the confidence level was never high even if his solo runner was coming off a debut win five weeks ago.
That usual pessimism from the Australian trainer seemed to compound further when Atlas (NZ) (Atlante) was locked in a stirring three-way battle inside the last 100m, but raw ability got the Atlante three-year-old there for his second win in as many starts.
Coming off heels at the top of the straight in the small field skimmed down further to six following the scratching of two horses, Atlas waged a relentless battle with Ottawa (Foxwedge) while Vulcan (NZ) (Per Incanto) was letting down steadily on the outside.
For a few bounds, the issue could swing either way, but Brown’s game new find stuck it out gallantly to eventually put a half-length in advance of Vulcan, who pipped Ottawa for second place by a head. The winning time was 1min 11.46secs for the 1200m on the Long Course.
“I’m never ever confident going into a race. But it was nice to see a young horse like him score such a tough brave win tonight,” said Brown.
“Chris Bock bought this horse along with Inferno. Bocky’s done a good job picking those two, they’re both unbeaten.
“I’m also very happy for Scott Price, one of the part-owners. He also has Copacabana and Hardcore with us.”
With debut win partner Michael Rodd unable to make the 54kgs allotted, it was Ben Thompson who stepped up to fill his boots on Friday night.
“He’s a lovely horse. I’m just the lucky recipient, while it’s unfortunately Michael Rodd’s misfortune,” said the Australian jockey.
“He gave me a nice ride to the gates, but I feel he still doesn’t have an on and off button. He still travelled lovely, though.
“We got to the front a long way from home, but he went through the line really well.”
In establishing a two-from-two record, Atlas has already racked up around S$70,000 in stakes earnings for the Atlas Stable. Atlas was purchased by Brown out of Mapperley Stud’s 2018 Book 1 draft at the New Zealand Bloodstock Yearling Sale for $50,000.
