Second edition of Forest Jim seeks blowout win in city debut at Flemington on Saturday

Trainer Cliff Brown enjoyed city success with one Forest Jim more than 20 years ago, but he’s chasing a surprise city win with another Forest Jim at Flemington on Saturday.

Mornington trainer Cliff Brown joked that Saturday’s Flemington hopeful Forest Jim showed his age.

Brown would be one of the few trainers in Australia to have prepared two horses with the same name at different times.

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Brown trained the original Forest Jim to a debut win at Bendigo in November 1999 while winning a maiden at the same track with the latest edition last month.

Australian racing rules state, in order to reuse a horse name, 17 years must pass after the birth of a horse with the same name or 20 years after the birth of the youngest progeny of a horse with the same name.

The Mornington-based horseman said seven-time Melbourne Cup-winning owner Lloyd Williams bought the previous Forest Jim, a New Zealand-bred son of staying influence Grosvenor.

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“I think it’s very sad that it shows my age,” Brown said.

“The other one was a very good horse.

“He had one start for his original owners for one win and they wanted to sell him so Lloyd bought him.

“There was a group of Singaporean guys that owned him and one of them, Mr Yong, his son races this Forest Jim.”

The second edition of the Cliff Brown-trained Forest Jim will be out to complete two wins in a row when he heads to Flemington on Saturday. Picture: Racing Photos via Getty Images

The latter incarnation of Forest Jim is a son of Vancouver that will have his sixth start in the Darren Galley Mile (1600m) at Flemington.

Bookmakers have Forest Jim at big odds but Brown said he needed to see where the gelding sat in the Melbourne metropolitan ranks after starting his career at the provincials.

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“We’ll just see where he’s at,” Brown said.

“He’s progressive and I think he’ll enjoy a wet track.

“It looks a strong field, maybe too strong but, if the rain came, we’d certainly see how they went.

“He’d been pretty unlucky at his previous two runs so he’s doing a pretty good job.”

The original Forest Jim carried Lloyd Williams’ silks to three city wins in 2000 and 2001.

Brown will watch Saturday’s Flemington race from Brisbane where he will saddle Scintillate and Rogan in the rescheduled Queensland Derby.

The pair last raced on May 3, which Brown said disadvantaged Scintillante and Rogan when the Queensland Derby was postponed for a week.

“I know it’s only a week but it does change the dynamic of the races,” Brown said.

“When you’ve gone an extra week and they’re five weeks between runs, it just makes it a little bit harder.

“If I was a betting person, I’d think the winner would now come out of the Rough Habit Plate because that was a tough track and they’ve now had an extra week to get over it.

“I think that could be the form race.

“I’d be pinching it if I won it.”

Originally published as Second edition of Forest Jim seeks blowout win in city debut at Flemington on Saturday