By MATT NICHOLLS
CHEERS from five Armidale men echoed around Eagle Farm as Brave Ali held on to win the $80,000 Listed Tails Stakes (2128m) in Brisbane on Saturday.
Part-owners Jim Dedes, Harley Payne, Troy Johnson, Brett Wallace and David Knights were trackside to witness the seven-year-old gelding’s big victory, his third in a row in Brisbane.
Once again, jockey Tegan Harrison led all of the way on Brave Ali, which is trained by Tony Gollan.
“Craig Martin brought him here and won a race at Doomben on a heavy track and decided to leave him here with me,” Gollan said.
“He’s won a further two starts for me now and he’s a horse racing in good form.
“It’s a nice way to start the day. We finished second in the first race today and now we’ve won this.”
Gollan’s good day continued when Temple of Boom caused an upset in the Group 2 Victory Stakes, defeating stablemate and half-brother Spirit of Boom.
Brave Ali, took his record to 11 wins from 35 starts and boosted his career earnings to $239,000,
“If he pulls up well he’ll run in the Group 3 (Chairman’s Handicap) race at Doomben in a fortnight,” Gollan said.
“He’s in career best form so who knows how far he can progress during the winter carnival.”
Dedes, who is the secretary of the Armidale Jockey Club, said there was no ceiling to Brave Ali’s campaign, but hoped the O’Reilly gelding would be aimed at the $150,000 Listed Grafton Cup on 10 July.
“We’ll just see how he goes next race and go from there,” he said.
“The Grafton Cup is still one of the main aims.”
