Brown takes purple patch over to Perth
Promising Melbourne jockey bounced back from injury, eyeing 6th Group 1 win in WA
PERTH - Melbourne’s rising star Ethan Brown has given a strong lead when he elected to fly over to Perth to ride Light Infantry Man in the A$1.5 million (S$1.29 million) Group 1 Northerly Stakes (1,800m) at Ascot.
He had to forgo key rides at the Ballarat Cup meeting in Victoria, namely Globe in the eponymous race itself. He recently won the Cranbourne Cup with the Mick Price & Michael Kent Jr-trained galloper.
But Brown said the lure of a sixth career Group 1 win made the decision to fly to Perth a lot easier.
“I was offered the ride on Light Infantry Man a couple of weeks ago,” he said.
“I had to decide between this horse or Globe in the Ballarat Cup. It was a hard decision, but I thought I’d have a crack at the Group 1.
“They don’t hand out Group 1 races and I thought this was a good opportunity.”
On paper, his last-start unplaced run in the Railway Stakes, the first of three Group 1 races of The Pinnacles – with the Winterbottom Stakes and the Northerly Stakes the other two – on Nov 23 could have kept Brown at home.
But the form prior to the Railway Stakes was rather solid.
The Ciaron Maher-trained UK import won the Listed Chester Manifold Stakes (1,600m) impressively at Flemington on Nov 7.
The French-bred six-year-old’s task of winning the Northerly Stakes was made trickier after he drew 15, but Brown said he still had confidence the son of Fast Company had what it took to win the weight-for-age feature.
“The gate isn’t easy, so it will take a good ride from there,” he said.
“The horse is there in good order and I think he’s up to it.
“If he gets any sort of luck, he has to be a chance.”
That last quote may sound ironic to the young man whose promising career was up in the air in 2023.
The 25-year-old spent more than nine months on the sidelines after a horror race fall from Maximillius in the Group 1 Australian Guineas (1,600m) at Flemington in March 2023.
Life-threatening injuries to his liver and kidneys put his riding career in limbo, but he beat the odds and made a comeback, albeit in two stages.
After a brief return to riding in August, he took an indefinite break from riding in October before jumping back in the saddle last January.
He has since gone from strength to strength, landing two Group 1 wins at the recent Spring Carnival, the Moir Stakes (1,000m) with Mornington Glory and the Thousand Guineas (1,600m) with Another Prophet.
Besides his Cranbourne Cup win aboard Globe, he also won the A$1 million Meteorite with Nadal on the same day.
“It’s been unreal,” said Brown. “It was always a goal to get going again and trying to better myself after the fall.
“The fall was a learning curve for me, and I feel as though I’ve become a better rider from the break I had.
“I feel like I’m riding the best I ever have. I’ve still got plenty to learn, but I’m feeling really good.” Racing WA
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now