Richards keen on Australian campaign for exciting colt Brando

He’s got the movie star looks and now exciting Savabeel colt Brando will be out to showcase his talents on the international stage.

Trainer Jamie Richards is keen to test the lightly-tried galloper against the best of his generation across the Tasman following his runner-up finish in Saturday’s Group 1 Levin Classic (1600).

A Melbourne campaign beckons the 3-year-old, who has won three of his five starts, including a dominant performance in the Listed Uncle Remus Stakes (1400m) at Ellerslie on Boxing Day. Bought for $500,000 by Te Akau principal David Ellis from Riversley Park’s draft at the 2019 Ready to Run Sale, the colt will have another chance to enhance his value as a future stallion prospect after getting in a bumping duel and a long way out of his ground when narrowly failing to run down Bonham in the Levin Classic.

“He will have a really quiet week this week,” Richards said. “We will send him around to the water treadmill for a week to give him a bit of a freshen-up.

“He will run in the CS Hayes [Group 3, 1400m] at Flemington on February 13 and then the Australian Guineas [Group 1, 1600m] a fortnight later. In the back of our minds, his pedigree is pretty sharp and I think there is further improvement with a set of blinkers on as well. He will probably be seen in the CS Hayes with a set of those on.

“We think he deserved the opportunity, he was pretty unlucky the other day. I think with a bit more luck in running, he probably wins, but it’s funny, the racing game at times. Some days, you have a bit of luck, and some days, you don’t. We think he is up to the challenge.”

Group 1-winning stablemates Probabeel and Kahma Lass, who both trialled well at Matamata last week, add to the Richards arsenal across the Tasman.

“Kahma Lass left [on Monday] and arrived in Sydney in good shape and heads to the Light Fingers [Group 2, 1200m] at Randwick on February 13 first up,” Richards said.

Probabeel headed to Melbourne last night.

“Her target is the A$5 million All-Star Mile at Moonee Valley on March 13.”

Richards is looking forward to a bumper night of racing on Saturday at Ellerslie, where he will have as many as five runners in the Karaka Million 2YO (1200m), a race Te Akau Racing has won four years in a row.

But the highlight of the six-race twilight card is likely to be the clash of Baker-Forsman star Aegon with Richards’ last-start Group 2 winner Amarelinha in the Karaka Million 3YO Classic.