BROWNIE'S BLOG: LOCAL TRAINERS WIN FOUR OUT OF THE NINE RACES ON CALOUNDRA CUP DAY

By Damian Browne | Wednesday, July 3, 2019

Brownie’s Blog is the personal blog … exclusive to HRO … of multiple Group 1 winner Damian Browne. This week Brownie looks at the success of local trainers on Caloundra Cup day. He talks about the New Zealand trainers super strike rate over the years in the Caloundra Cup itself. He comments on his new-found role as a tipster. He offers praise for the Sunshine Coast Turf club for the job they are doing and, last but not least, he gives an update on an old friend

Caloundra Cup day produced a really good meeting last Saturday … and it was even better when local trainers went home winning four of the nine races.

David Vandyke took out Group race on the card … the Group 3 Sunshine Guineas … with Baccarat Baby. That filly really deserved to win that race. She’s been just in behind the good ones over the carnival in Brisbane and really deserved to win a Group race.

David pretty well hit the ground running from the moment he relocated to the Sunshine Coast and he’s been winning races regularly ever since … as you would expect from a trainer of his calibre.

Baccarat Baby was Michael Hellyer’s first Group winner. There wouldn’t be too many harder working jockeys out there than Michael. He is also a lovely guy so the Guineas result was great to see all around.

Like David, Michael has done a very good job with Baccarat Baby. Even when he rode her in that Group 1 race at Randwick, he rode her beautifully. He just didn’t have that bit of luck he needed late in the race.

She has also been plagued with bad barriers unfortunately … she has been trapped three wide a few times through nobody’s fault … and it was good that it finally all came together for them and the team could put that important and well-deserved Group win on the board.

**************************************************************************************************

Trevor Miller also scored one for the local trainers, winning with Victory Eight.

Trevor is a legend in the training ranks on the Sunshine Coast and has been ever since I moved here. His winners aren’t as often as they once were but it was special seeing him come up trumps on Sunshine Coast’s main day.

From one champion trainer to another … Stuart Kendrick got two winners on the day – Tarzan and Tambo’s Mate.

Stuart has been our premier trainer here pretty much since he moved from up north. He had a number of runners on the day and it was perhaps fitting that he came away with a couple of winners on a day where his stable held the naming rights to the Kendrick Racing Caloundra Cup.

**************************************************************************************************

The cup this year was one by another kiwi horse … Igraine.

I say another Kiwi horse because New Zealand trainers have made a habit of coming across, targeting this race and going home with the spoils.

It generally is the case that the Ipswich and Caloundra Cups are for those horses who probably aren’t quite the Group 1 stayers ready for the Doomben Cup and races like that … so the good trainers will obviously target these races with suitable horses at the back end of the carnival if their horses aren’t quite up to Group 1 company.

The Kiwi’s have done that well. All three Cups I won was for kiwi trainers. I think that is their seventh or eighth win in something like the last fifteen runnings of the race so they know what it takes to win this one.

**************************************************************************************************

I was providing tips on the day for the Sunshine Coast Turf club and I did find Igraine.

I give my tips to Sunshine Coast CEO John Miller at the start of the day and he gets them put up on the infield screen before every race.

I’ve actually been going pretty good at it, which is unusual and a surprise to me. At least I haven’t been sacked yet.

Over the last few weeks that I have been tipping I have had a bit of luck, so if people do wnat to follow my tips, they can find them out there on the big screen on race-day.

**************************************************************************************************

All in all, it was great day out at the Sunshine Coast last Saturday.

The weather played nicely in the afternoon after it looked like was going to be pretty ordinary in the morning. There was a good crowd. They all seemed to be enjoying themselves and there was good racing all around.

So, congratulations are in order for John Miller and his team at the Sunshine Coast Turf Club.

They are doing a great job.

**************************************************************************************************

Finally, I will just share this with you for those who used to be a fan of his.

I went to visit an old mate today and I am happy to tell that Buffering looks good.

He seems to be enjoying his retirement. He is in a nice paddock. He is in there with Privlaka and another horse Rob Heathcote used to train.

He is a little bit woolly. That’s understandable having had a couple of years in the paddock.

If anybody who didn’t know him looked at Buffering now it would be hard for them to imagine what he accomplished in his career.

It’s even difficult for me sometimes.

Standing in that paddock with him far away from all of the excitement … and then to think we went halfway around the world together and did what we did … I have to pinch myself.

It still feels like a dream

More articles