Jockey Ethan Brown says Snapdancer has taken him on the ride of his life after registering a second Group 1 victory.
Snapdancer gave Brown his maiden Group 1 win in the Robert Sangster Stakes (1200m) at Morphettville in May before a placing in the Group 1 Tatt’s Tiara (1400m) at Eagle Farm the following month.
Taken straight to the front by Brown in the Group 1 Memsie Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on Saturday, the pair defied the opposition to run them down.
A $7.50 chance in betting, Snapdancer held off the late challenge of I’m Thunderstruck ($10) with Cascadian ($8) a further 1-½ lengths away third.
“She is taking me on the ride of my life,” Brown said.
“She’s so easy to ride. I came out so relaxed for this race, she was obviously a live chance, but just her racing style makes it so much easier.
“She jumped so well, established a lead and switched off when I asked her to. Tactically I just wanted to use her residual fitness, knowing that most of those horses were first-up resuming stayers.
“She still had to do it and she’s done exactly that. She just keeps raising the bar.”
After a four-timer at Moonee Valley last week including the two Listed grade races, Ciaron Maher and David Eustace added the opening Group 1 of the Melbourne Spring Carnival and now have 16 Group 1 wins to their credit after forming a training partnership at the beginning of the 2018-19 season.
Maher said having finished runner-up in the Tatt’s Tiara, Snapdancer carried residual fitness into Saturday’s race.
Her work on Tuesday morning at Caulfield convinced the trainer she was ready to run well while he was elated for Brown.
“Ethan Brown, he is a real emerging jockey, a great lad to have around the stable and provides a lot of feedback,” Maher said.
“This is just fantastic for him.
“If she (Snapdancer) did nothing else in this preparation, this year has been phenomenal for her. She is just going from strength to strength, and I think she’ll get better again.
“I always thought she would be better at four and five and I think she is still developing, so the sky is the limit.”