Perfect Brew bags Najair Mem. Trophy with strong late run

PERFECT BREW survived being bumped and blocked at the start, straightening way off the pace in sixth place to mow down 7-1 outsider MONEY MARKET stealing home in yesterday’s Vassell ‘Jolly Man’ Najair Memorial, upsetting sprinters at five and a half furlongs in the overnight-allowance feature event.

Underfoot conditions, caused by mid-afternoon showers for a second consecutive racemeet, played the feature straight into 7-2 chance PERFECT BREW’s game, 3-5 favourite DIGITAL ONE, MILOS, and A GIFT FROM BEN run off their legs by MONEY MARKET.

However, MONEY MARKET, skittering home with Paul Francis on the wet surface, might have shaken loose of stablemate DIGITAL ONE, MILOS, and A GIFT FROM BEN but was stunned by late-closing PERFECT BREW under 2022 champion jockey Dane Dawkins on winter break from Canada’s Assiniboia Downs.

Straightening wide of rivals and seemingly out of it, in the 12-horse field, Dawkins roused PERFECT BREW to pull level with the chasing pack – DIGITAL ONE, MILOS, and A GIFT FROM BEN – a furlong and a half out before putting the bead on MONEY MARKET in spotless silks with Francis appearing cozy on the lead.

Pushing out MONEY MARKET under a hand ride, Francis’ ears pricked up on hearing PERFECT BREW’s last-furlong charge, immediately calling for his whip but too late to get a response from his weakening mount, who had to fight, tooth and nail, for the lead down the backstretch in what appeared to have been an attempt to play rabbit for DIGITAL ONE.

With that game plan misfiring, Francis tried his best to salvage a win with MONEY MARKET but found PERFECT BREW, a 2022 classic contender, much too strong inside the final half-furlong, surrendering to the Bern Identity-Moonlight Brew gelding in a drive-by finish at the wire.

PERFECT BREW clocked 1:06.4 for his three-quarter length win, using back class to beat overnight allowance runners, his fourth run on return to the group, since conditions allowed him a bye to the level he had long conquered despite winning two open-allowance events in the last year.

Dawkins’ win with PERFECT BREW crashed the championship-battle party of Tevin Foster and Raddesh Roman after MILOS and DIGITAL ONE fizzled in the underfoot conditions.

However, Roman, responding to Foster’s Saturday four-timer and Sunday opener astride ESUSE ME GOODBY, notched two winners – SHE’S ADORABLE and BABYLOVE – reducing his rival’s lead to one win, 104-103, in an exhilarating battle after both broke the 100-barrier at the weekend.

Racing continues this Saturday with the BGLC-TOBA Millionaires Series, a $2 million owners’ bonus up for grabs in the three-year-old maiden event at seven furlongs, before the Heroes Weekend triple-header of Saturday-Sunday-Monday.