Hawkes Racing sprinter Briasa has underlined his considerable promise by posting his first stakes victory in the $1 million The Hunter at Newcastle despite enduring a wide run.
The four-year-old has now won six of his seven starts, the nature of Saturday’s performance prompting stable representative Steve Thompson to declare Briasa a potential candidate for next year’s The Everest.
“He is a real competitor,” Thompson said.
“He just wants to win like he showed today.
“There is still a lot of upside to this horse. He is still raw and in twelve months’ time, I can probably see him in an Everest.”
From an outside draw, Briasa was caught three-wide in the run but showed his tenacity to lay down the gauntlet to leader Felix Majestic in the straight.
The latter looked like he may have pinched the race with 100m to go, but Briasa ($3.10 fav) lifted for Schiller to nail Felix Majestic ($31) by a long head on the line with last year’s The Hunter (1300m) winner Coal Crusher ($10) third.
Thomspon said he initially feared the leader had kicked and held on.
“From where we were standing, I thought we ran second. Then when the number went up, unbelievable,” he said.
He also revealed Briasa was proving a breakthrough horse for part-owner Dr Anthony Johnson.
“He has bred 150 horses and he was telling us when he (Briasa) won that race at Rosehill on the Saturday (in August), that was his first Saturday winner.
“It has been a long time waiting for him.”
Schiller has now ridden Briasa four times for as many wins and believes he has the scope to feature in even bigger races in the future.
“He’s a tradesman. That is probably his toughest test to date,” Schiller said.
“He sat wide two starts ago and didn’t get much luck from a wide barrier, today wasn’t much different, just the speed helped him. It didn’t drag him out of his comfort zone.
“I would have loved to get a bit of cover, but just to see him keep finding late, I think he’s got the signs of a very good animal.”
Thompson confirmed Briasa would be spelled and readied for an autumn carnival campaign.
The Hunter (1300m) was dominated by the on-pace horses with the likes of backmarkers Private Eye ($6.50) and Far Too Easy ($4.80) failing to make a serious impression, finishing eighth and eleventh respectively.
Queenslander Nikau Spur took out the Listed The Beauford (2300m) with Tim Clark throwing everything at the gelding to arrive in the final bounds, denying Irish hoop Dylan Browne Mcmonagle on Herman Hesse a feature double after he earlier claimed the Spring Stakes on Snitzanova.
