ASCOT // Small-time Davids have already landed a blow on the Goliath owners at Royal Ascot when the syndicate-owned Trip To Paris secured a heart-warming Gold Cup win on Thursday.
That will pale into comparison should Brazen Beau strike for the little guys in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes on Saturday.
A 90-strong fan base connected to the Australian raider has arrived in Britain to watch what will be Brazen Beau’s final hurrah.
Among the ownership group of 38 are Adam Grogan, a butcher from Adam’s Family Meats in New Lambton, who is in with his brothers Brett and Damien and six others for a five per cent share for what is their first foray into horse ownership.
There is the retired school principal Tony Keating, who bought into the colt with work colleague Lois Wakem, while Murray Cornelius mows lawns for a living.
Saturday’s £525,000 (Dh3 million) Group 1 sprint will be Brazen Beau’s final run because in December Darley beat out nine other interested parties to what reportedly was a deal worth in excess of A$10 million (Dh28.5m).
The breeding operation of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has leased back Brazen Beau to the syndicate, and, in what is becoming commonplace with both Darley and Godolphin, the horse has remained with trainer Chris Waller.
Such was the windfall that Paul Crisp, another syndicate owner and an oil tanker chief officer, has paid off his mortgage with his 2.5 per cent share from the sale, in addition to his slice of the horse’s Dh4.3m prize money and other winnings.
For Grant Morgan, who bought Brazen Beau initially for $70,000 before he syndicated the horse through his On Track Thoroughbreds, the whole episode is a dream come true.
“The deal was fantastic and afforded us the goal of having to race here,” Morgan said. “We certainly didn’t want the horse to change trainers and we wanted to keep doing our own thing and take it through to the end.
“Sheikh Mohammed and his team were fantastic in being able to facilitate that.
“To keep a group that large pointed in the one direction is hard. Racing is an opinion game and everybody has one.”
Morgan has come to Ascot before, when he was part of a 50-strong group who travelled from Australia to watch Black Caviar’s agonising success in the 2012 race.
Morgan did not have a top hat and tails a day before the race and popped in to Goldings on Newmarket High Street to buy a set, which he will wear on Saturday.
“From an experience point of view, money can’t buy coming to Royal Ascot,” he said.
Brazen Beau will start favourite on account of his effortless win in the Newmarket Handicap in March.
He faces 14 rivals that include Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid’s dangerous Mustajeeb, fellow Australian raider Wandjina, Wesley Ward’s Undrafted and the veteran Gordon Lord Byron.
He will be ridden this time by Craig Williams, after Joao Moreira had to return to Hong Kong.
The colt, who is not yet four after being born in September 2011, is rated by Timeform on a par with previous Australian raiders Choisir, the first Australian horse to win at the royal meeting in 2003, and Takeover Target, who narrowly failed to add to Choisir’s Diamond Jubilee win by a head in 2007.
That rating, however, was achieved at Flemington when more fancied rivals such as Lankan Rupee, Chautauqua and Terravista may not have run their race.
“I think our horse was absolutely dominant,” Morgan said. “There have been excuses made for some of the other horses behind him in the Newmarket. I don’t subscribe to that theory because he was going away at the line.
“It is not our fault that riders don’t have the initiative to go forward in races that have slow early fractions. I think those critics should take a walk up that Flemington straight and see how long it is to that winning post.
“Physically, I think the horse has gone forward. I suspect he has another level to go to and hopefully we see that. Beyond that, unfortunately for us, it is his last race, what could have possibly been we cannot think about that. You can’t ask for a better future than Darley.”
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