Connections of Miraval Rose and Brazen Style endured an agonisingly long wait before the judge found the slimmest of margins for the outsider Brazen Style in Saturday’s Group III Manhari Metals Thoroughbred Club Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield.
Ridden by Craig Newitt for Shane Nicholls, the daughter of Brazen was on tired legs but fought tenaciously to defeat the heavily backed Grunt filly Miraval Rose by a nose, with the admirably honest Star Turn filly Saltaire two and a quarter lengths back in third.
Carrying the colours of Matthew Sandblom’s Hollymount Stud, Brazen Style was making her third start after debuting a fourth behind the talented Archo Nacho at Werribee in June before earning a shot at stakes company with a convincing win at Yarra Valley on October 28.
“I went over and spoke to (Miraval Rose’s trainer) Grahame Begg and said ‘I thought it favoured you’. Watching it on the line and then we watched it together,” Nicholls said
“Big thrill to win a stakes race with a filly at her third start. She was $250,000 out of (Inglis) Easter. She’s out of a Group 1 winner and probably makes her very expensive.
“There’ll be a gentleman in Sydney pretty happy and there’ll be two boys in Adelaide very happy.
“We had the discussion with the owners yesterday. I said we’re going to send her (forward). Froggy is the man for the job and we’d rather die by the sword trying to win than ride conservatively and run fifth or sixth.
“That was a big buzz. She was a nice filly and we ran into a hot one on a wet track first-up and then spelled her.
“I had her out at my place and I went and looked at her, I feed her every day, and after five days I wasn’t happy, ten days I wasn’t happy.
“Initially, I was going to leave her there for a fortnight and we left her out for longer.
“Now she’s come back in and won at Yarra Glen dominant and now won a stakes race.
“The boys that bred her stayed in for quite a bit.”
“For me today but I suppose some of them had to go to the Danehill because there wasn’t the race for the fillies. It was a bit of an adjustment but there was still some quality there coming through some good races.”
A $250,000 purchase for Shane Nichols Racing / Hollymount from the Mill Park Stud draft at the 2022 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, Brazen Style is a three-quarter-sister to Total Babe (I Am Invincible), who placed in the Group III Gimcrack Stakes and Group III Widden Stakes.
Bred by Michael Birchall, Brazen Style is the fourth winner for the Group 1 auRC Railway Stakes winner In Style (Fast 'N' Famous), a $440,000 purchase for Attunga Stud from the Willow Park draft at the 2016 National Broodmare Sale.
In Style has a yearling filly by Capitalist.
Brazen Style is the 26th stakes-winner for Darley Stud’s Brazen Beau.
