By Jordan Gerrans
As Golden Slipper day approaches every year, Brisbane trainer Bruce Brown always thinks back and remembers his late grandfather fondly.
With the 2021 edition of the richest two-year-old race in the world this Saturday at Rosehill, the veteran Queensland trainer takes pride this time of year that he has a Golden Slipper on his resume.
Brown won the time-honoured Golden Slipper in 2002 with Calaway Gal, as hoop Scott Seamer burst through late to claim a thrilling race.
He is the second last Queensland trainer to win the Slipper with Phelan Ready the last horse trained in the Sunshine State to win the race, taking out the 2009 edition.
And, all these 19 years on, the first thing the Eagle Farm-based horseman recalls about the victory was the heartfelt sentiment the victory meant to his family.
“The first thing that I remember was that my grandfather, that I lived with when my mum and dad first came to Australia, he would have been 100 on that day the race was run, but he died four years before then,” Brown recalled.
“When I was standing up in the stands, I looked to the sky and thought 'I hope this horse has got your lucky stars on me Pop'.
“That was the most surreal moment for me and once the horse saluted, I looked to the sky again, much like Damien Oliver did with his brother when he won the Melbourne Cup.
“It was unbelievable and a great thrill.”
Calaway Gal was a winning machine early in her career: eight lengths too good at Eagle Farm in late October of 2001, before bolting in by six-and-a-half lengths across the road at Doomben a few weeks later and then again by three lengths at Doomben in early December of that year.
Another five-length triumph followed at Eagle Farm in the middle of December.
As Brown reflects, he and rider Seamer made a crucial call, one that he now says became a master-stroke, as they looked to cross the border for the 2002 Golden Slipper.
Calaway Gal was leading and bolting in races in the Sunshine State but decided to ride her back in the field in NSW, leading towards the Group 1 glory.
Her winning run came to an end at Canterbury and Rosehill in lead-in races - still running in the top three - but Brown thinks those two efforts were key to her Golden Slipper triumph.
Seamer and the filly were able to settle midfield and burst through and nab Victory Vein on the line to get up.
She was a horse with heart and a beautiful stride, her trainer says.
“They are fabulous memories, it is the ultimate dream as a trainer to win one of the big four in Australia, lucky me having won one,” Brown said.
“A lot of big trainers these days that have won many Group 1s, but never won a big four race, that is for Hall of Fame trainers as well.
“They can never take that off me.”
To this day, Calaway Gal’s win is one of the fastest ever Golden Slipper’s won.
And, her racing efforts are celebrated every year, with the running of the Listed Calaway Gal Stakes at Eagle Farm – taken out by boom filly Sweet Dolly late last year.
There was calls for Sweet Dolly to follow Calaway Gal’s feats and chase the Golden Slipper, but her Rockhampton-based trainer Kevin Hansen (pictured) opted for the QTIS Jewel 2YO on the Gold Coast last weekend and is likely to pick out suitable races over the upcoming TAB Queensland Winter Racing Carnival.
Brown still trains a small team of horses and recently added to his stable at the 2021 Magic Millions Yearling Sale.
He handed over $20,000 for Lot 220 on the second day of the sales, a bay filly from Raheen Stud, a yearling that Brown thought may have fetched upwards of $30,000.