Jockey Corey Brown aims to deny old rival now trainer Darren Beadman a Group 1 Doomben win

THEY were rivals as jockeys, now Corey Brown is aiming to once again deny trainer Darren Beadman a major success in the Doomben Cup, writes Ray Hickson.

Corey Brown partners Godolphin galloper Polarisation to a Sydney Cup win. At Doomben on Saturday he’s be out to deny the Royal Blue a Group 1 win. Picture: Simon Bullard.

FIFTEEN years ago Corey Brown won a titanic struggle over Darren Beadman to claim his first Sydney jockey’s premiership.

While tomorrow’s $650,000 Doomben Cup (2000m) is no two horse race, Brown will be again out to deny Beadman a title as the now Godolphin interim trainer chases a maiden Group 1.

Back on the last meeting of season 2001-02, a suspended Brown had to endure watching Beadman try to reel him in from his loungeroom but held on to win the crown 106 to 104.5.

At the time he admitted to ‘’hanging onto the tail’’ of a few of Beadman’s rides on that final day of the season.

This time Beadman will be the frontrunner but there’s no doubt, if he’s looming up at the business end, Brown will be mentally pulling on the tail of It’s Somewhat in the Doomben Cup too.

Flashback to 2002 - Corey Brown (left) and Darren Beadman (right, reading the Sportsman) battled out the Sydney jockeys premiership with Brown successful. Picture: Rohan Kelly.

Brown feels he has a score to settle on the Kris Lees-trained Sense Of Occasion at Doomben after his luckless ninth behind the now Beadman-prepared It’s Somewhat in the Hollindale Stakes (1800m) on the Gold Coast two weeks ago.

‘’I ended up costing myself the race,’’ Brown said.

‘’I rode him a bit pretty, trying to help him from the bad gate.

‘’I thought I was doing the right thing and I kicked up underneath Robbie Fradd (on Rudy) and kept him three wide in a slowly run race and it was the undoing of me.

‘’If I had have come back and let Rudy in I would have been able to come out and around him when I wanted to.

‘’Instead he was left a bit flat footed when they sprinted, the backmarkers behind me swept up around him and we were pocketed.

‘’He was a bit stiff in areas of the race where I should have let the race unfold a bit.’’

Darren Beadman (right) and Tye Angland after It’s Somewhat won the Hollindale Stakes at the Gold Coast. Picture: Grant Peters, Trackside Photography.

Brown is yet to win a Doomben Cup while Beadman posted his lone success on Juggler in 1996.

Sense Of Occasion has bumped into It’s Somewhat on two occasions this preparation, the first when running third to him in the Doncaster Mile.

Between then and the Gold Coast, the underrated gelding ran on into a placing behind Winx and Hartnell in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

‘’He deserves a big race like this, he ran third to Winx and third in the Doncaster, he’s been knocking on the door and giving 110 per cent,’’ Brown said.

‘’I just love the frame of mind he’s in and I think it’d be a feather in his cap.’’

Brown vowed he’ll be making no mistakes on Sense Of Occasion tomorrow, and from the outside barrier he won’t have a lot of room for error, but also hopes the forecast rain arrives to even the playing field.

‘’If he gets the right run in the race he’s definitely going to be one of the horses to beat,’’ he said.

Jockey Corey Brown is confident Sense Of Occasion (ridden here by Ben Melham) can win Saturday’s Doomben Cup. Picture: Simon Bullard.

Beadman has only been at the helm of Godolphin for less than two weeks but already has his first stakes win on the board and was on the Gold Coast, on what was former trainer John O’Shea’s final day, to watch him lead all the way to win the Hollindale Stakes.

The Godolphin trainer said he can’t fault the in-form import as he chases four straight wins in a so far unbeaten campaign.

“Everything says that he’s held his form and he’s come up with a perfect barrier,” Beadman said.

“He’s worked well and retained his fitness since winning at the Gold Coast.

“If he can repeat what he’s done at his last three it should put him into the race.

‘’The great thing is that he gives 100 per cent every run, and he still seems to have some freshness in his legs.’’

Godolphin has called James Doyle back to Australia to pilot It’s Somewhat tomorrow.