Brother In Arms came up short in his Provincial Championships bid in the autumn carnival, but the Stephen Hill-trained gelding will get the chance to snatch some consolation in the $150,000 Spring Series final.
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The High Chaparral six-year-old booked a spot in the series decider after dominating the Kembla Grange heat on Saturday afternoon.
Brother In Arms ($5) defied a wide run to score by a length over Brad Widdup’s Dissolution ($3.70), with the Diane Poidevin-Lane trained Leave Ya Numba ($16) a further half length back in the Sky Racing Spring Provincial Series Heat 2 Class 5 Plate (1400m).
"He has been going good," Hill said. "It was a good solid win. He doesn't operate well on heavy tracks at all so for it to be dry was the big thing today.
"We have been forced to run on him heavy track primarily to try and get him a run in The Provincial Championships, but that’s obviously gone now. We are just trying to race him in his own grade and this little series came up at the right time."
Jockey Jess Taylor had to navigate from a tricky draw on the weekend and found herself posted three wide just off the speed.
The wide run did little to slow Brother In Arms’ sprint when the pace went on.
Brother In Arms was able to put a gap on his rivals over the final 150m, with the first three runners across the line all earning a spot in the final on December 1.
"She rode him a treat," Hill said. "I think the 1400m start is the hardest one at Kembla so we needed a bit of pass on so that he could find a spot in the run.
"She got in a decent spot and he went well."
Hill plans to keep his options open with with a little more than a month between now and the final, which will be run over the mile.
"To be honest, he doesn't need to have another start," Hill said. "I would be confident that if we just went right through to the final, he would be fine. We've got the option to race somewhere in between but might just give him a barrier trial between now and then.”
The series will continue on Thursday at Hawkesbury over 1500m, with Newcastle and Gosford both set to host qualifiers before the final at Kembla in the first week of December.
Brother In Arms has chalked up four wins at Kembla, while Kim Waugh’s Manhattan Mist, Paul Perry trained Sausalito and Brad Widdup’s Invictum Domina have all already qualified.
This little series came up at the right time.
- Stephen Hill
