Family bond lands My Brothers Keeper at Sandown

Trainer Stephen Brown rarely lets his emotion spill out, but the Seymour-based horseman almost allowed them to bubble over when My Brothers Keeper scored at Sandown.

My Brothers Keeper provided Brown’s son Stephen junior with his first metropolitan winner when they took out the Sportsbet Feed Handicap (2100m) on Wednesday.

The victory completed a full circle for Brown junior who was seriously injured in a fall in a Wangaratta trial in September 2019.

Brown junior spent three-and-a-half weeks in an induced coma after suffering head trauma, neck fractures, a punctured lung and broken ribs and did not make his return to race riding until September last year, despite his parents wishing he would not.

But Brown junior would not give up on his dream and in a rail hugging ride was able to land My Brothers Keeper ($5.50) a short-head winner over Wagga Wagga ($4) with the $3.30 favourite Mr I’m A Believer a further 1-¾ lengths away third.

In a heart-warming moment, the Brown father-and-son team embraced soon after Brown junior had weighed in.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to shut him up for a week, but I’m just over the moon for him,” Brown senior said.

“I don’t get very excited that often, but I’m really excited.

“My wife tried to talk him out of riding again recently, but he said that he wants to ride, just like I wanted to do.

“I felt something was missing if I wasn’t riding, and I understand where he was coming from.”

Brown junior said he had proved everyone wrong by not only making a comeback to race riding, but capturing that elusive city win.

One of the tallest jockeys riding in Australia, Brown junior has to work hard to keep the weight down but said it was one of his proudest moments to achieve his maiden city win to go with his previous 43 race victories.

“Everyone told me that I shouldn’t, or I can’t, but I proved them wrong,” Brown junior said.

“I can’t thank my family enough, especially my mum, who is at home with the horses this afternoon, and my partner Stacey.

“It was a really big thing that everyone had to go through, so I’m happy that I came through and toughed it out and his feels pretty good, but I can’t explain it.

“It’s a big relief.”