Ace trainer-reinsman Colin Brown knows what it takes to win a Nights of Thunder at Gloucester Park — and he is confident that he has the pacer with the brilliant speed to win the Retravision Nights of Thunder this year.
Brown is bullish about Franco Rayner’s prospects in the first of the three Retravision Nights of Thunder 1730m heats on Friday night with the speedy Franco Rayner, a New Zealand-bred four-year-old who will be driven by his 21-year-old daughter Maddison.
Franco Rayner, a stylish all-the-way last-start winner over 2130m last Friday night, is favourably drawn at the No. 2 barrier and he looks set to be seen in the role of pacemaker.
Colin Brown finished second to Tealsby Karita with 12/1 chance Perfect Order in the inaugural Nights of Thunder final in 2007 before winning with the Greg Bond-trained 13/2 chance Quick Draw McCaw in 2008 and with Ohokas Bondy, a 13/2 chance who was trained by Greg and Skye Bond and won the 2012 Nights of Thunder from stablemate Dundee Three.
Asked to compare Franco Rayner with the Bond-trained Nights of Thunder winners, Brown said: “He’s the quickest and has got the better gate speed. He has more fast twitch than the others. But don’t forget that we’re now a few years down the track, so what was relevant five or more years ago is no longer relevant.”
Brown has driven Franco Rayner 22 times for six wins and his daughter’s record behind the horse is five wins from nine starts.
Brown said that he was delighted that his daughter was enjoying such success with Franco Rayner. He said that he was a big believer in the weight advantage his daughter provided.
“She weighs 52kg and I’m around 72kg,” he said. “And that 20kg makes a huge difference. Maddy knows the horse and gets on very well with him.”
Brown revealed that Franco Rayner had an inauspicious start, saying: “When he was vetted as a two-year-old in New Zealand there were concerns and they didn’t like the look of his knees and his heart score wasn’t what they would’ve liked.
“They were asking a very healthy price and Jim Currie, a very good client of Spreydon Lodge, put up a proposition to the stud farm that the horse be sent to WA where he would race in partnership with him and Spreydon Lodge.
“With the right barrier draw Franco Rayner can go all the way and win his heat and the final of the Nights of Thunder. We’ve got the draw to lead in the heat in which I expect Nathans Courage to come forward early. I’m hoping we’ll be leading and winning, but I’ve got respect for the others.
“I don’t think that Franco Rayner is a superstar. He’s not an Inters horse; he wouldn’t come through a series of four runs in a fortnight. Maybe in 12 months he will be a Fremantle and Pacing Cup hope. He’s not just a frontrunner. He can sit on speed over any distance.”
At the moment, Maddison Brown is managing her career as a harness racing driver and as an apprentice jockey, working for noted trainers Grant and Alana Williams.
“She should be able to combine both driving and riding,” Colin Brown said. “She is sensible enough to realise that if the workload gets too heavy she will have to take a backward step from driving and concentrate on riding. She is a smart enough kid to make that judgment.
“She has been working for Grant and Alana for almost 12 months and she had four rides at trials in Bunbury last Thursday. I believe that apprentices have to have between 20 and 50 rides in trials before they can ride in races.”
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