Brave One overcomes wide run to score at Randwick races
In a confident display, Dylan Gibbons piloted Brave One to an impressive victory in the Quayclean Handicap (1300m) at Randwick, adding to his growing tally of wins since returning from injury.
The talented apprentice has notched five Saturday metro wins since late May, with Brave One’s triumph highlighting his tactical awareness after shoulder surgery kept him sidelined for several months.
“When I had that time off I had a lot of time to think,” Gibbons said.
“You replay races in your mind all the time and lots of the time – although in Australian racing three-deep isn’t the place to be – it’s better than being three-back and one-off (the fence) in a slow race and over-racing.
“From those wide alleys you can really only beat yourself.
“It obviously helps when you’ve got a horse with ability but I think that showed today because he was able to cruise across, have cover for the first half and then from there on in it was a matter of point and shoot.”
Now working closely with the Hawkes Racing team at Rosehill, Gibbons has become a regular part of their operations and credited their trust for giving him the freedom to ride to his instincts.
“They’ve got one instruction and that’s to ride the horse and keep the horse happy. It is pretty easy when your only plan is to do exactly that,” Gibbons said.
“There were no instructions from out wide. I trusted the horse and it paid off. I gave him a chance to go and win it and he did just that.”
Brave One may soon find himself back in stakes company, with Steve Thompson confirming the gelding would build through the grades first.
“We will just go through his grades but he is above average,” Thompson said.
“We will try to get his rating points up and then probably look at getting some Listed or black-type into him later.”
Brave One ($4 fav) finished 1-3/4 lengths ahead of Secure ($5), with Lunaite ($5) third.
Punters interested in Brave One’s future targets can browse early markets and odds at Australia's best-reviewed betting apps.
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