BROWNIE'S BLOG: AN OVERWHELMING SEND OFF. GREAT MEMORIES. I'M STILL IN TRANSITION BUT MOVING ON.

By Damian Browne | Wednesday, May 22, 2019

Recently retired multiple Group 1 winning rider Damian Browne has joined the HRO editorial team. Browne’s famous partnership with Buffering, the horse with which he is most associated, has already been immortalised in a bronze statue which stands at Eagle Farm but it was the guard of honour given to him at Doomben recently, shortly after he announced his retirement, which brought home the ‘live’ picture of just how much respect Browne had earned during his career in the saddle. Retired from riding yes, but thankfully Damian’s experienced eye and informed opinion stays in play with Brownie’s Blog – the personal blog of Damian Browne, exclusive to HRO – now being published on a weekly basis. HRO could not be more pleased to have him on board.

Firstly, to all of those who have enquired about my health I am pleased to say that my situation health-wise has improved heaps in recent times. I’m feeling very good now. It is just my legs that we are still working on. They are going to be an on-going problem, probably for the rest of my life … but, at the moment, I’m feeling a lot better and my general health seems good, so thank you all for your good wishes.

The send off that the Brisbane Racing Club and the jockeys and trainers gave me on Doomben 10 000 day was pretty overwhelming to be quite honest with so many people forming a guard of honour for me.

There have been plenty of champion jockeys before me who probably didn’t get the sort of send off they deserved. When I was talking to John Tapp he could only recall two other jockeys that had that guard of honour … Darren Gauchi and Jimmy Cassidy … so that sort of put things in perspective for me with regard to all of the goodwill and respect that I was shown.

It was great because you could see in the jockeys and trainer’s eyes that they really meant it.

I was in a suit that day and one of the spinoffs of retirement is that I’ve got to keep upsizing my suits at the moment. I’m starting to expand a bit.

That’s partly because of the change of lifestyle … although I have to take a measured approach to that, you can’t just jump from one extreme to another … but I think my putting on weight has more to do with all of the medication I’m on.

I’ve got to eat with the medication I’m taking and I also think that the medication itself is making me put on a bit of weight so hopefully when I stop taking what I’m on at the moment I’ll be able to lose the weight again … otherwise I might have to go and raid Scrivo’s wardrobe!

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It’s the Kingsford Smith Cup on Saturday which immediately brings back good memories.

I won the race last year on Impending in the royal blue silks of Godolphin. That Group 1 win was obviously one of my Queensland Racing Winter Carnival career highlights.

I had others and they all have special meaning for me.

I won the BTC Cup on Albert The Fat, at a starting price of $20, for trainer Eden Petrie back in 2010. That was my first Group 1 winner since relocating to Queensland … so that was pretty cool.

I won on Quintessential, who won the Queensland Oaks in 2012, for John Sargent. I rode for Sarge when I was in New Zealand so that was a pretty special win as well.

But it’s not just the wins that makes the carnival memorable for me. It’s always great to see the good horses and jockeys that come here.

I will always remember riding against Black Caviar and Winx at the carnival. Those horses are still going to be talked about in thirty years time. They were special days. Doomben was full I think when Black Caviar raced. The house full signs went up.

I actually rode Albert The Fat in the race that Black Caviar won … the 2012 BTC Cup. Albert The Fat flipped over in the barrier right beside Black Caviar before the start. Boy, would have been popular if we had hurt her! I think the grandstand would probably have been torn down.

That was a race to remember. Black Caviar beat Hay List and Buffering. You don’t get horses of a much better quality than that.

Like I said, I was on Albert The Fat … not Buffering.

Thankfully for me, that glorious chapter was still to follow.

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I have seen some reports questioning the quality of the field that the winter Group 1 races attract and, by implication, questioning whether they deserve Group 1 status.

I guess there are many different ways in which you can look at it. Obviously, the timing of the year … being the winter … has its impact.

The cream of the crop … the top Group 1 horses … will always be aimed at the Spring and the Autumn so that has a lot to do with the outright quality that the winter Group 1’s will attract.

The other factor, of course, is the top prize money is going to attract the top-liners and, in that regard, those who host the winter carnivals simply cannot compete with both the prize money on offer in Sydney and Melbourne or, in fact, with the way those races are promoted.

At times some trainers and owners do try, for want of a better word, to steal a Group 1 with maybe not a true Group 1 horse so that is why they target the ‘off season’ Group 1’s with those type of horses.

That is not to say really good horses do not come and win here. There are many examples of top class horses who have done just that but, in the general makeup of the fields in question, while you might not agree with it, you can see why some would be starting to cast some doubts on the overall quality of these fields.

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Personally, I have always classified Group 1 winners into three different categories irrespective of when or where they are run.

Obviously, there are the majors … the Cox Plate, Melbourne Cup, Caulfield Cup and Golden Slipper.

Then the Classics … the Derby, the Oaks and the Guineas … and then you’ve got your normal Group 1’s.

I was never fortunate enough to win one of the majors but I won two classics. I won a Derby and an Oaks and I’m still pretty happy with that … oh yes, and, just on the side, of course there was that international win on Buffering in Dubai.

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In the end, the bottom line is that whatever success you have comes down to hard work and last Saturday you saw an example of that.

It was great to see someone like Johnny Allen winning a Group 1 … a jumps jockey showing that, if you put in the hard work, you will get the opportunities. He is a perfect example of that. His rides have been outstanding.

He has been riding over the Sydney and Melbourne carnivals over the last twelve to eighteen months. He is not a particularly young fellow and he has probably been working hard all of his life but it just shows that hard work ethic can turn things around for you.

On the day after his Doomben Cup win he was riding winners in Bendigo and he will probably be back riding in some jump race somewhere this week.

So, there you go. He deserves his success.

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Fighting Teo was a carnival winner at Doomben on Saturday. It’s a name that some people might associate with me.

So finally, to close another chapter for those still wondering, I can confirm that my Fighting Teo handling charge, which dated all the way back to June 2018, has finally been settled.

As readers may know I refused to accept the original two month ban I was handed by stewards and fought long and hard to clear my name. I have never, ever moved from my position of innocence.

The matter was due to be heard again about three weeks after I got sick in early January. I was just in no state at the time to go to Brisbane and go through all of that.

They ended up downgraded the penalty to a month.

At that stage, as I say, I was in no state to be taking on another fight. I did want to continue and clear my name completely but I had to put my health first at that time and just cop it on the chin … and so the one month penalty now stands as the final verdict.

For the record, I think I’ve done the month already now … not that it matters.

Till next week.

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