BRUTAL SUE STUNS PUNTERS AT LONG ODDS

By Graham Potter | Thursday, August 28, 2025

By name and by action … Brutal Sue … that’s probably what the punters were thinking about the Tony and Maddysen Sears trained mare who landed a knockout blow in a Super Maiden Showcase Plate over 1200m at Murwillumbah on August 28.

In July 2023, 'Super Maidens' were introduced to the NSW race programs providing $6.5 million of additional prizemoney on midweek Metropolitan, Provincial and Country TAB meetings. The plan was that Super Maidens will enable owners to recoup a larger share of their outlay with their horse's first race win … so, the takeaway here for Brutal Sue here was a neat $22 000.

The four-year-old daughter of Brutal drifted from $26 to $51at one stage before a late rally for her brought her into a starting price of $31.

She had started at double figure odds in all of her last three starts leading into this Murwillumbah assignment and in her seven career starts prior to this she had never threatened to win at any stage, but her fortunes changed in dramatic fashion here.

Not that Brutal Sue’s up-coming upset result could be spotted anywhere in the first half of the race in which the Sears trained runner raced at the rear of the field, all of nine lengths off the lead.

Even when Ben Looker started to rev Brutal Sue and begin to make ground in the approach to the home turn, there was still so much work to do.

Straightening with seven horses in front of her and no real gap to target, Brutal Sue could do little more than mark time initially in the straight, but it all opened up for her when the leader Siglo De Oro ($6.50) started to tire and run around, shifting out in dramatic fashion, leaving a huge gap in the centre of the track for Brutal Sue to chase into … and the four-year-old was very much up for challenge, accelerating on cue to quickly race into contention.

Brutal Sue still had two horses to run down with 100m left to run … and there were also a number of runners finishing strongly from behind … but she was good enough to both reel in those in front of her and ward off those snapping at her heels to score by a little over half-a-length to claim her first career victory.

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