Payne’s patience prevails as Brillantezza sparkles at Flemington

Connections of progressive filly Brillantezza had their patience rewarded in no uncertain terms at Flemington on Saturday when the daughter of Castelvecchio ran out a convincing winner of the Mahogany Challenge Series Final.

Stepping up to 2500m for the first time in her short career to date, Brillantezza looked to have plenty on her plate as the field turned for home but showed a devastating turn of foot over the concluding stages, running a race-best final 400m despite showing signs of greenness in the run to the line. 

The Patrick Payne-trained filly, who had no less than 12 jumpouts and trials prior to her debut victory in May, powered up the Flemington straight to win by a length-and-a-half from King’s Reflection, who had previously filled the placings behind another progressive three-year-old in Decalogue last month. 

The win made the trip over from Adelaide a worthwhile one for her part owner David Brookes and his Starventure Syndicate, for whom it had been a long time between drinks at the home of the Melbourne Cup. 

“It’s always good to win anywhere, let alone at Flemington,” Brookes said. “We won the Wakeful Stakes in 2000 in the same colours, which were my grandfathers, and I think this is the first winner we have had at Flemington since then,” Brookes said.

“It was exciting to see that turn of foot, which got her out of trouble - it looked like it was all going pear shaped at the top of the straight. 

“The other two mainstays in the Starventure Syndicate were also there yesterday and were incredibly thrilled to win a race at Flemington.”

Having first laid eyes on Brillantezza as a foal at Cornerstone Stud, Brookes, who runs a small breeding operation of his own in the Adelaide Hills, was always keen to purchase the well-bred filly when she entered the ring at the Magic Millions Adelaide Yearling Sale back in 2024.

He duly did so in conjunction with her in-form trainer Patrick Payne for $35,000, a price which looks excellent value in hindsight given she now has a metropolitan win to her name with the promise of plenty more to come. 

A direct descendant of the Eight Carat-Diamond Lover dynasty, Brillantezza is bred on a similar cross to her sire Castelvecchio’s star performer Aeliana, with both fillies boasting a duplication of the hugely influential Sadler’s Wells and Sir Tristram in their respective pedigrees.

While Brillantezza still has a way to go to match the dual Group 1-winning exploits of Aeliana, Brookes revealed that her trainer has always held the filly in high regard, evidenced by the Group 1 entry she carried earlier this year prior to the decision being made to give her more time to develop. 

“Patrick is very careful to not build up expectations unrealistically, but he’s always said that he thought she will be a well above average middle distance horse as a mature mare, and she has started to show it,” Brookes said. 

“We could have raced her before Christmas and she’d actually trialled ok, but she was just so thin and lean that we felt the prudent thing to do would be to tip her out in the hope that she’d furnish. 

“There has always been a hint that there is some class there. We had her nominated for the Queensland Oaks, but even that came around too quickly for her.

“If you saw her yesterday, you’d have seen that she has a long way to go to furnish. She’s a filly that Patrick has had to be very patient with and will continue to be so.”

That patient approach will likely see connections avoid the temptation to throw Brillantezza, which means ‘brilliant or sparkling’ in Italian, into the deep end during the spring, although there is a chance we may see her bid to extend her winning sequence to three later this month, provided she bounces out of her latest triumph in good order. 

“We’ll see whether she has another run this preparation or not,” Brookes said. “There will be a very low threshold to spelling her again and giving her the spring off. 

“She’s not the sort of filly that is mature enough to come out against the open horses in the spring from a three-year-old prep, so we’ll be looking to next year after this preparation. 

“There is a three-year-old 2400m race at Caulfield in a few weeks, but if there is any suggestion that she’s had enough then she’ll start spelling and have a good break. Patrick will decide what’s in the horse’s best interests.”

Previous winners of Saturday’s Mahogany Challenge Final include the likes of Group 1 Caulfield Cup (2400m) placegetter Persan and Group 3 Bart Cummings (2500m) runner-up First Immortal, and while there is a lot of water to flow under the bridge before she reaches those heights, Brookes is hopeful that Brillantezza can also mature into a Cups horse in time. 

“I would love to think so, and being trained by Patrick she’ll get every chance to prove herself if she stays sound,” he added.  

“She obviously has stamina and what we saw yesterday was some brilliance, so we’re very hopeful for the future.”

It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows for Brookes and his fellow owners at Flemington on Saturday, with Brillantezza’s stablemate Falset Star - the Starventure Syndicate’s other runner on the card - finishing a disappointing last of 14 in the Listed A.R. Creswick Stakes just a few hours later. 

“Our other runner didn’t really stretch out and Billy Egan thought he may have been feeling something behind,” Brookes explained. 

“It just goes to show the highs and lows of racing. From a winner to last in the space of a few races - it’s a tough game!”