Etienne Braun recently topped 400 winners!
Etienne Braun is a staunch member of Cape Racing’s super-supportive band of owners – and he sports a proud winning record going back to the early 90’s. Braun has employed a variety of trainers – from Mike Stewart, Gavin Blake, Mike Bass, Basil Marcus, Vaughan Marshall to Tara Laing in PE, and now has the bulk of his string with Justin Snaith. ‘I prefer to keep a low profile and stay out of all the politics. For me it’s simply about enjoying racing and supporting trainers I feel comfortable with – the banter with the Snaiths is always entertaining”. Married to Pauline, and with a son and daughter in their early twenties, Braun forged a rewarding career in the fishing industry. He sold out his core company, Breco Seafoods, a few years ago, but retains interests in tuna fishing boats at Hout Bay and has also established a pioneering aqua- culture farm in East London.
Braun recently topped 400 winners – a sterling tally. He has long been associated with top class thoroughbreds with proven winning records. Jay Peg remains South Africa’s highest stake earner after cleaning up here during an unprecedented streak as a three year- old then moving abroad to win the lucrative Dubai Duty Free and Singapore International. Jay Peg eventually earned over R40 million for ecstatic connections and was awarded an elite Timeform rating of 126. In racing, and indeed in life, Braun believes following his gut feel has served him well. “My instinct tells me almost straight away if something is right or wrong. Physically, I usually go for big/strapping types but some of those have been useless. I’m not superstitious – after all my colours are green, but there is a lot of luck involved. Jay Peg was bought over the stable door – even though his sire Camden Park was unproven and 130K was quite a lot of money in 2004, I decided to go for immediately.” Float your boat was another Cape Derby winner for Braun and he lucked into a share of Met victor and budding stallion, One World, a speculative purchase that again turned out brilliantly. So, the fortunate and astute, Braun is used to competing at the upper echelon of a game that is by no means an exact science, and has tamed far bigger spenders. Whilst the July has eluded him thus far, (Made to Conquer got close when second in 2018) Braun derives genuine pleasure though from every winner, be it a prestigious Graded race or a humble Maiden. It requires an almost irrational passion to keep investing given the maths of owning horses at the prevailing level for prize money which, in Braun’s words, “… is so lopsided, we all need to go see head doctors, but yet we come back for more!” Wry statements like this from a savvy businessman prove the unique allure of ownership and Braun still gets amped when any of his horses perform with distinction.
Such enthusiasm embodies the spirit of a truly sporting owner, “It’s incredibly hard to stay ahead, even with good horses and I’ll probably scale back when older, but I’m in it for the fun now and just want the best for racing.” He supports all positive initiatives within South African Racing to bump up stakes which would make it financially more attractive again.
Whether it was his high- profile international star Jay Peg winning seriously big bucks abroad under the bright lights of Dubai and Singapore or leading in promising juvenile, Pomp and Power at the tranquil rural setting of Durbanville on a recent quiet Wednesday afternoon – Braun relishes the moment. Make that 402 trips to the No. 1 box and counting!