The long awaited return of It’s Me in the Triscay Stakes on Saturday was overshadowed by the hype surrounding the likes of Espiona, Very Elleegant, Lost And Running, Colette and a handful of other luminaries. That suited It’s Me’s trainer Brett Cavanough who was thankful to have some breathing space leading up to the Group 3. To all intents and purposes he was his usual laid back self as he greeted familiar faces and fired off a few of his trademark quips. Underneath he was wound up like an eight day clock.
“It’s sixteen months since her brilliant win in the Kosciuszko,” said Brett. “After a six month stay in Victoria with respected injury rehab specialist Lee Everson, she began a long and tedious build up in our Scone stable. She came through the preparation unscathed, but you don’t know until you put them under race pressure. I was worried when the showers kept coming because I didn’t want to see her on a shifty track. As it turned out the track was unaffected. Then came the long delay at the barrier when Moonshine Lady suffered that terrible injury. I felt very sad for the connections which didn’t help my state of mind. Remember I also had Patino Ruby in the race. By the time they jumped I was an absolute wreck.”
Brett was probably a touch disappointed when It’s Me’s winning sequence came to an end, but quickly saw the merit in her performance. The five year old mare raced handier than she did in the Kosciuszko and looked likely to figure in the placings until the last 100m, when she plainly and simply ran out of puff. “Sixteen months is a long time and she’d had only one soft trial at Scone fifteen days earlier,” said the trainer. “You think you’ve got them wound up, but a fair dinkum race sorts them out. She finished sixth just four lengths from the winner Snapdancer whose winning margin was almost three lengths. I was pretty happy and so was Jason Collett. I wasn’t too disappointed in my other runner Patino Ruby who was rising sharply in class.”
It’s Me’s previous trip to Randwick was a bittersweet experience for Brett and the mare’s many owners. The daughter of Shamus Award started a short priced favourite in the $1.3 million Kosciuszko, following three previous wins by a combined margin of 7.3 lengths. She came from midfield with a breathtaking sprint to nail Redouble on the line. There wasn’t a hint of impending trouble after the race, or on the trip back to Scone the following day. Brett and excited owners enjoyed the afterglow of such a memorable win, and the many suggestions that It’s Me might be an Everest horse in twelve month’s time.
It's Me paid the penalty for her stunning Kosciuszko win. A tendon injury put her out for 16 months - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
“The alarm was sounded on the Monday morning when my stable foreman thought he could feel a tiny lump in the vicinity of the near fore tendon,” Brett recalled. “We had the vet there in no time and a subsequent scan revealed a small hole in the tendon fibres. It gave me quite a shock because she’d had a problem in the same leg as a two year old. The earlier injury was a bit lower down and probably slightly more severe. That was the reason she didn’t race at all as a two and three year old. News of the second injury was a real kick in the guts but typical of this unforgiving game. You’ve got to enjoy every high point because things can change overnight.”
The one time world record breaking shearer (427 sheep in a day) began his horse training career at Tocumwal. He loved the Murray River town, and won his share of races but the excessive travel to race meetings eventually wore him down. An extensive search for the right property led him to a stabling complex right on the Hume Highway at Albury. Should he come up with the right horse he’d have a five hour trip to Randwick and only three hours to Flemington. On his very first day at the races following the relocation Brett saddled up four runners for four winners at a local meeting. The Riverina phase of his training life was underway with a bang. During the Albury years Brett reeled off eleven SDRA training premierships and was champion NSW country trainer on three occasions.
Brett made the move to Scone in 2017 and hasn't regretted the decision. Here he is with Peter Snowden after a major Scone meeting - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
He still talks about three special horses who gave the stable valuable impetus during that period. He loved Helideck who was a notorious barrier rogue when he arrived in the Cavanough yard from Victoria. He went on to win ten races for his new trainer including an impressive Queensland treble - an open race at Eagle Farm, the Prime Ministers Cup and the Gr 3 BTC Sprint. Another favourite was Xaardante who had to contend with issues like bone chips and a wind infirmity. Brett is adamant the gelding was robbed of a much better record. The trainer was delighted to win a Canberra National Sprint and an Albury Gold Cup with Niblick, another expat Victorian.
Brett hatched a plan for the future when trainer Greg Bennett decided to vacate his Scone training complex in 2017 in order to take on a new role with the Aquis operation in Queensland. There were forty five boxes available, but Brett gained the green light to construct another fifteen or more. Today he has seventy one horses in work on the Scone precinct and is currently negotiating for another twenty boxes at nearby Muswellbrook. Spellers and pre trainers included, Cavanough has 120 horses on the books. Amazingly almost 100 of those are fillies and mares. “I never intended to get a reputation as a trainer of mares,” he said. “It’s just the way things have worked out. I’ve had a lot of success with them over the years and I guess the Kosciuszko win with a mare had something to do with it.”
One male member of the Cavanough team to perform with distinction in recent times is the lightly raced Toronado gelding Fender, winner of six from just fifteen starts and $266,000. He won his first four races on the trot which included a Randwick TAB Highway and a Rosehill BM78. He was far from disgraced in finishing seventh, just 2.4 lengths from stablemate It’s Me in the 2020 Kosciuszko. In the following preparation Fender won two metropolitan races in Brisbane and followed up with a creditable third to Southern Lad and Phobetor in a strong Ramornie Hcp at Grafton. A few months later Brett slipped him to Melbourne where he beat all but the placegetters in a tough BM 90 during the Melbourne Cup carnival. The trainer looks forward greatly to Fender’s upcoming autumn preparation. “He’s a tough, durable horse who rarely runs a bad race,” he says. “I’d like a stable full like him”
Fender (Jason Collett) wins a TAB Highway at Randwick 18/04/2020. Runner up is Toro Toro with James McDonald - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
The astute trainer is weighing up his options for the massively talented It’s Me. Obviously the rich Country Championship is high on the list of priorities, but Brett is undecided about her next outing. An indicator of his opinion of this mare, is the fact that the Gr 1 Newmarket Hcp isn’t completely out of the question. “I know it’s an ambitious suggestion but this is a hugely talented mare who would get in with a luxury weight,” said Brett. “I think she’d love the straight course and the blistering speed of a Newmarket. We’ll see how she goes over the next week or so.”
Many keen judges believe It’s Me has the talent to add another major prize to her stunning Kosciuszko victory of sixteen months ago. Any win of note would bring great acclaim to her trainer and to the people who’ve painstakingly contributed to her comeback. I spoke to Brett on Sunday morning as he was about to load It’s Me and Patino Ruby onto the truck for the return journey to Scone. He’d been all over It’s Me’s much publicised near foreleg and couldn’t have been happier. No swelling, no heat. It was a pleasant journey back to the Hunter Valley.
A special moment! Brett holds the Kosciuszko trophy aloft after It's Me's spectacular win in 2020 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
(Banner image - It's Me produced a whirlwind sprint to beat Redouble and Man Of Peace in the Kosciuszko - courtesy Bradley Photographers.)