Grazie impresses at Oamaru for the Browns

Rob Courtney

With the Miracle Mile due to take place on the four days later, how apt was it for a close relation of a previous winner in Grazie to open her account at Oamaru in the hands of Carter Dalgety.

Having only her 3rd raceday start (two previous starts for two placings), the Always B Miki – Prego filly coasted clear over the final stages in a 1:58.5 MR to score in a manner suggesting that there would be more in store for her as the season unfolded.

Grazie and Carter Dalgety in the Browns Owners colours, the same colours famously worn by My Field Marshall – Photo courtesy of Kentuckiana Lodge 

Grazie is the 2nd foal from her dam Prego & the latter is a Bettor’s Delight daughter of Syd & Shona Browns’ fine race filly Foreal (18 wins + $664k) making her a half sister to 2018 Miracle Mile winner (My) Field Marshal.

On that warm & ‘balmy’ night at Menangle (this writer was there!), the Tim Butt/Anthony Butt driven son of Art Major smoked home in a race & track record of 1:46.9 & that remains the record to beat as the 2025 edition looms large.

Mosgiel stalwart Syd Brown can lay claim to being involved with this family right back to the 1960s when his late father Jim obtained Omylight (Light Brigade – Scotomy/U Scott) for breeding and now 5 generations later, the family still remains capable of leaving a nice horse.

As a broodmare, Omylight did not let the Browns down.

Of her 7 live foals, 6 got to the races for 5 winners. Sydney James, by Johnny Globe (8 wins) was a nice colt for Don Nyhan who got to the verge of ‘cup class’ & Salisbury (3 wins) & Shiplight (6 wins) were more than handy but the best of them by far was Regal Light (by Lordship) who won 11 races.

Trained by Brown himself, he did graduate to ‘cup class’ & wearing the family (Otago’s blue & gold) silks also worn by Grazie midweek, he was good enough to contest an Inter-dominion in Australia. Often driven by Peter Jones, his record would have been even better had he had better standing start manners.

Syd and Shona Brown in 2018 accepting accolades for My Field Marshall

By the early 70s, Syd Brown had joined his father in part-owning the progeny of Omylight. Foal no.4, Ruling Light (by Scottish Hanover) although unraced left Carbine (6 wins) & Deidre Ann (by Lordship) who would become the unraced grand-dam of Foreal.

7 of Deidre Ann’s 8 offspring got to the races. Krystle, dam of Foreal won 5 with another 21 placings & Wakana (unraced by Soky’s Atom) left a handy filly in Mika (3 wins) who would breed on for the Browns & become the grand-dam of The Bachelor (16 wins + $117k + 1:51.8)

Full brothers by Bettor’s Delight, Bushido & Diego were sub 1:56 winners in Australia while Wakana’s only other foal, Chieko (qualified

only) has already left the very promising Malakai, currently racing out of the Dunn stable at Woodend Beach.

Krystle, by El Patron, a noted broodmare sire in NZ, left 9 foals and all 9 at least qualified. Apart from Foreal, Coming Up Roses (by Holmes Hanover) left the likes of Askmenow (10 wins + $130k) & Delightful Dash (11 wins + $112k) amongst her nine foals to get to the races.

Dashtothebeach, her last foal, won five races in NZ before being sold to America where he took a mark of 1:51.2

Foreal was a top young horse winning 4 of 6 as a 2yo when trained by Tim Butt and went onto plunder a number of wins across the Tasman.

She was by Washington VC and the Browns had a highly successful association when their ‘family’ was mated to that Southland based stallion.

Her first foal, Madiba Magic won 5 here before being exported to America where he took a mark of 1:51.4.

Field Marshal came next and right from the outset as a 2YO (winning three of six) he showed ability well above average. In the end, he won 29 races with a further 25 placings while amassing an amount just shy of $1.5M.

Rocknroll Magic (1:51.1), Skipper (6 wins), Forsure (6 wins) & Chablis (3 wins) have all done a job to keep the Brown’s ‘current’ in the modern harness world.

Apart from Prego (2024 had a colt by Sweet Lou), they are breeding from Chablis (by Captaintreacherous) who also had a 2024 colt by Sweet Lou & was due to foal to Confederate in the season just completed.

Foreal’s days as a matron are now over but the Browns have kept her last foal, an Always B Miki gelding who is now a 2YO called St Paddy.

**** Prego (meaning “you’re welcome”) & Grazie (“thank you very much”) are common terms used by tourists when travelling through Italy