The winds which have hit Brisbane this week have helped Choice Bro’s chances of a return to the winner’s list in the 1200m-Open Handicap at Doomben.
Choice Bro won the Listed Toowoomba Weetwood on April 16 and was given a short break after finishing unplaced in the Prime Minister’s Cup on May 7.
He returned to finish sixth in the Rockhampton Newmarket two weeks ago with a wet track trainer Tony Sears’s only concern on Saturday with Doomben a soft 6 on race eve.
“He has had 12 starts on wet tracks for one win compared with his six wins on good tracks,” Sears said.
“The winds have been blowing in Brisbane most of the week and Doomben is a good drying track anyway. I would expect the going to be just right for Choice Bro on Saturday.
I don’t think he would have been up to beating the better Sydney and Melbourne horses so we aimed at the tail of the carnival,” Sears said.
“He got too big a weight in the Newmarket and it told over the final 200 metres. But he did run on well and he took a lot of benefit from the run.
“Choice Bro has a big weight (59kg) again on Saturday so we decided to claim with Josh Oliver’s three kilos. I have had a bit of success in Toowoomba with Josh and he rides very well.”
Oliver has amassed 65 winners this season and is headed to being a regular metropolitan jockey in the new season.
One of Choice Bro’s rivals, Gold Coast galloper Final Crescendo, gets his chance to win his first race since September 2014.
Final Crescendo, who was stakes-placed twice in Melbourne in 2014, has pleased trainer David Kelly with a recent trial win and a good fifth in the Group Three Healy Stakes at his first-up run.
