Any victory Ben Brisbourne secures with Fontein Jewel is a notable achievement, but the two-year-old’s recent triumph in the opening race at Flemington on Saturday carried particular significance.
The Lucky Vega colt’s success in the $150,000 TAB We’re On Handicap (1420m) marked the young English trainer’s inaugural win at the prestigious track since obtaining stables on-course at Australia’s most famous racecourse in early May.
Brisbourne maintains his Wangaratta stable, the location from which Fontein Jewel was officially listed as being trained prior to Saturday’s event, but he attributed the victory to his entire team.
“It the third Flemington winner for us, but the first one at Flemington since we’ve been had a base down here,” Brisbourne stated.
“So that’s a big tick and hopefully it gets us noticed a little bit more, especially with these young younger horses.
“It just proves that what we’ve put in place so far is working and we look forward to plenty more successful, hopefully.”
Fontein Jewel, who commenced at $7, delivered a tenacious performance to win by three-quarters of a length ahead of Insolence ($6.50). Insolence narrowly secured second place over the rapidly closing Spirit Of Macedon ($5).
This marked the second victory from five career starts for Fontein Jewel. The colt’s previous outing saw him finish second in the Elvstroem Classic (1300m).
Fontein Jewel’s win occurred just over five years after his dam, Fontein Diamond, claimed the $250,000 Country Mile Final at Moonee Valley on All-Star Mile Day. Brisbourne expressed his satisfaction in achieving success in significant races with the progeny of Fontein Diamond.
“It’s really nice, because he’s the first foal out of Fontein Diamond, who was my first big winner as a trainer,” Brisbourne explained. “She would have put some toughness into him and then the stallion’s just put a little bit of a class. “It’s absolutely brilliant for Chris (Morey) and Terry (Hurford), who bred him and support me every year with taking shares and horses, to get a big reward here.”
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