Trainer Tony Gollan will chase more Cups success with Brave Ali after the seven year old scored a gutsy win in the Listed $175,000 Channel 7 Ipswich Cup (2150m) at Ipswich last Saturday.
Brave Ali leads all of the way to win the Ipswich Cup at Ipswich. Photo by Daniel Costello.
Brave Ali has only been in Gollan’s Eagle Farm stables since April after being transferred from Tamworth trainer Craig Martin and the Ipswich Cup win was the gelding’s third from four starts for his new trainer.
After winning over 2030m at Doomben on March 29 for Martin, Brave Ali scored twice for Gollan before running third to Pretty Pins in the Group 3 $125,000 Landfill Logistics Chairman’s Handicap (2000m) at Doomben on May 10.
Gollan then decided to set Brave Ali for the Ipswich Cup and then move onto the Listed $175,000 Caloundra Cup (2400m) at the Sunshine Coast on June 28 and the Listed $150,000 Grafton Cup (2350m) at Grafton on July 10.
“I can’t wait to get to the Sunshine Coast Cup and I certainly can’t wait to get to the Grafton Cup,” Gollan told The Couirer-Mail after the Ipswich Cup win.
Gollan backed his own judgement and had Brave Ali fit enough to run a solid 2150m after five weeks without a run but did admit that it was hard to gauge the level of his fitness because of his relaxed temperament
“You never get a real line on him with his trackwork, but looking at him, he’d dappled up and looked super. I’m so proud of him,” Gollan said.
“We did plan it, I just wasn’t sure if I had the planning right.”
Winning rider Tegan Harrison took Brace Ali ($7.50) straight to front and rated the seven year old well before fighting hard to hold off the challenges of Noisy Ocean ($14) and Grey Assignment ($9.50).
Harrison was very pleased to be able to celebrate a feature race victory with Gollan after they combined with Temple Of Boom for second placing in both the Group 1 $650,000 James Boag’s Premium Doomben 10000 (1350m) at Doomben on May 24 and the Group 1 $1.36m AAMI Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) at Eagle Farm on June 7.
“When they put pressure on this horse, he just keeps fighting,” Harrison said.
“If something attacks him, he will keep fighting as long as he’s got his head in front.”
Saturday’s Ipswich Cup win took Brave Ali’s prizemoney to over $367,000 for twelve wins, six seconds and five thirds from thirty-seven starts.
