18 October 2018 | Ken Casellas
Star trainer-reinsman Colin Brown was mystified and at his wit’s end earlier this year when speedy pacer Maxentius faded and finished last in consecutive runs at Northam and Bunbury.
“X-ray examinations then revealed that the horse had a five-millimetre chip in a fetlock which required surgery to remove it.” Brown said.
Maxentius was out of action for six months and Brown produced the gelding in superb condition for his first-up appearance when he started from the outside of the back line in 2130m event last Friday week. Driven by Dylan Egerton-Green, Maxentius, an 8/1 chance, settled at the rear before sustaining a powerful three-wide burst to hit the front 300m from home on the way to a three-length victory over the pacemaker Mister Rollins. The final quarters were run in 27.8sec. and 28.8sec.
Maxentius will start from the outside of the front line, with Brown in the sulky, in the opening event, the 2130m Worldwide Printing Pace, at Gloucester Park on Friday night and looms as a serious rival to outstanding four-year-old Bechers Brook. A Maxentius victory would cap a wonderful 60th birthday week for Brown.
Bechers Brook, trained by Mike Reed and driven by Mark Reed, notched his ninth win from, 16 starts when he scored a decisive first-up victory at Pinjarra on Monday afternoon, rating 1.57.1 over 2185m, with final sections of 27.4sec. and 28.9sec.
He raced in fifth position, one-out and one-back, before starting a three-wide move 700m from home. He got to the front 50m from the post and won easily from Ideal One and the pacemaker Rocknroll Whitby.
“He’s still big in condition but has come back really well and is definitely a lot stronger than he was as a two-year-old,” Mark Reed said. “He will be hard to beat again on Friday night.”
Bechers Brook, who finished a fast-finishing head second to King of Swing in the WA Derby last April, is a leading contender for the $200,000 Golden Nugget championship on December 14. So, too, is his talented stablemate Golden State, who resumed after a spell with an impressive win at Gloucester Park on Tuesday night.
Golden State began from the outside of the front line and he finished powerfully from last (eighth) at the bell to win from the pacemaker Innocent Affair.
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