Sport
10 September, 2024
Two winners for Mount Isa trainer as Neodium blitzes Birdsville Cup
The Brook family-owned grey galloper made it back-to-back Cup wins.
Mount Isa trainer Jay Morris returned from Birdsville with two winners, but not the Cup, as speedy grey gelding Neodium set a new track record to claim glory at the Outback racing carnival.
Owned by the Brook family, the Phillip Stokes-trained Neodium
led from start to finish in the Cup, breaking the hearts of his rivals with his fast sectionals to win the feature race for a second time.
“Horses with a Birdsville connection are always very popular, and everyone backs them, so it’s great Neodium bought home another win,” said Birdsville Race Club president and owner David Brook.
“It’s a rare thing to get a back-to-back win in the TAB Birdsville Cup. We’ve been racing here a long time – our first win was in the Centenary Cup in 1982.
“We will be sure to have a few tonight to celebrate.”
There were three generations of the South Australian Stokes family at Birdsville for the carnival.
Phillip surprised his family by flying in unannounced to see the horse win, after he was taken to Birdvsille by his son, Tommy.
“Today’s win is all about the kids, I’ve really just come to support them,” Phillip Stokes said.
“I’m so proud, the win means a lot to us. And it means a lot to do this for the Brook family.”
After a 20-year hiatus, Brook horses returned to Listore Park in the Adelaide Hills – a property owned by the family and the base for more Birdsville Cup winners than any other property in the country.
“We think Listore Park may have been the secret ingredient in Neodium’s lead-in preparation,” said race club vice president Gary Brook, the son of David.
“It’s a magical slice of land and the horses had a great spell out there before returning to Stokes’ stables to begin final preparations ahead of coming out to Birdsville.”
In the Cup, the Morris-trained Le Force raced on the speed, but was unable to keep up in the home straight, finishing seventh.
Luckily for the Mount Isa Race Club president, he had two winners over two days to make the trip south worthwhile.
Atlantic Ridge ($2.60) kicked off the carnival with victory in the Benchmark 55 (800m) on Friday, while Skylight Song ($2.60) led all of the way in the Class 2 Handicap (1200m) on Saturday.
Both were ridden by apprentice Chloe Lowe, who was named the jockey of the carnival with three winners and a second placing.
Morris said Skylight Song would likely back-up in the Lord Derby on Mount Isa Spring Cup day later this month.
Crowds were well down at Birdsville this year, with Outback events feeling the pinch of the cost-of-living crisis, although the jockeys and trainers said the track was much-improved on last year.