Sepals ready to bloom in Aussie Guineas
Cliff Brown’s Singapore Guineas roll of honour features two trophies, and both picked up by arguably the two best horses he trained at Kranji – Debt Collector (2016) and Inferno (2020).
On March 1, the Australian trainer will bid for his home version of the three-year-old mile classic with Sepals at Flemington.
A win by the son of Calyx would not only better Tarnpir Lane’s third in 1997 and Fubu’s fourth in 2001, but will hand the astute horseman’s first Group 1 silverware since relocating back home in 2021.
One year after Inferno’s Guineas win, Brown pulled up stumps after 12 successful seasons in Singapore to return to his home state of Victoria, setting up at Mornington.
Inferno was among the few who joined him on the plane, but found the competition much hotter in Melbourne. Renamed The Inferno, the son of Holy Roman Emperor did win the Group 2 McEwen Stakes (1,000m) at Moonee Valley in 2021, but could not revisit the winner’s circle in his 22 next starts.
His trainer has enjoyed much better success, albeit not quite like in his halcyon days at Kranji.
With 25 horses – about half of his Kranji stable strength – under his care, Brown boasts a decent strike rate at country tracks like Pakenham, Ballarat or Sale, with the odd forays at Flemington or Caulfield.
One horse who may put the Singapore Gold Cup-winning trainer (Gilt Complex in 2017) back in the limelight on his home soil is Sepals.
Three wins from four starts is a great CV for any youngster, but it was the third win that stood out.
At his first city foray, the son of UK sire Calyx blew his rivals away in the Group 3 CS Hayes (1,400m) at Flemington on Feb 15.
It was the trigger Brown needed to set him on a Group 1 path he had been mulling over for a while – the A$1 million (S$848,000) Australian Guineas (1,600m).
“It’s a race we hope he can get in, but it wasn’t until his Group 3 win that we knew we had our Guineas horse,” said Brown.
“His dad was a pure sprinter, but his mum could run a mile, but we still don’t know how he’ll go.”
Barrier 3 and CS Hayes-winning partner Blake Shinn’s expert hands should give fans plenty of confidence, but Brown, 55, was as usual playing down his chances even if Sepals is the second favourite after Clinton McDonald’s Angel Capital.
“We go in full of hope, but it will be a hard race. Things have to go right for him,” he said.
“There are a lot of good chances in the race. I won’t name anyone, but it’s a wide open race.”
Brown will have more reasons to exult should Sepals score, especially with the very strong Singapore connection behind him.
Besides being out of What’s New, a mare Brown knows well for having saddled her to two Group wins at Kranji, the Group 2 Stewards’ Cup (1,600m) and the Group 3 Silver Bowl (1,400m), both in 2019.
“What’s New was pretty handy, she had ability. It’s hard to tell if her son is like her, but he’s going the right way,” said Brown.
“A few Aussie owners who had horses with me in Singapore have a share, like Glenn Whittenbury (owner of Inferno and Debt Collector), Dennis Cornwell and Richard Pegum,” said Brown.
“My son Harvey and myself also have a share in him. We bought him from his breeder.”
If Sepals is giving Brown and his gang a buzz, their former stable star is now far from the spotlight.
“Inferno’s retired. He ran really well at his last race, he was running great but just couldn’t beat the better horses,” said Brown.
“So, we thought enough was enough. He’s now a showjumper.”
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