Light Infantry Man marches to Australian Cup victory as stablemate Pride Of Jenni flops

Ciaron Maher still claimed the Group 1 Australian Cup with import Light Infantry Man after crowd favourite Pride Of Jenni was beaten.

Light Infantry Man takes out the Group 1 Australian Cup at Flemington. Picture: Racing Photos via Getty Images

By Brad Waters and Gilbert Gardiner

As one of Ciaron Maher’s hopes started to fade, another assumed control of Saturday’s TAB Australian Cup at Flemington.

Crowd favourite Pride Of Jenni had started to struggle under jockey Craig Newitt while Ethan Brown’s mount Light Infantry Man cruised into contention rounding the home turn.

Light Infantry Man ($9) was untested over the 2000m of the Australian Cup, the championship weight-for-age distance, making the last 400m a question that needed answering.

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But the French-bred import was up to the job, shrugging off the determined Deny Knowledge ($11) to score by two lengths.

The All-Star Mile again proved the right lead-up form as Light Infantry finished third in that race before his Australian Cup triumph, as did Cascadian in 2024.

Maher had no doubt Light Infantry Man would run out the 2000m, despite the fact the gelding had not raced beyond 1850m in his previous 23 runs.

Light Infantry Man was narrowly beaten in that French Group 1 race but won the Group 1 Northerly Stakes over 1800m in Perth last December.

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“I was pretty confident actually,” Maher said.

“I knew he’d enjoy that good tempo because of his races in Europe and he’s just in career-best form.

“The team have done a great job with him, Browny rode him beautifully.

“He’s a strong horse and can sustain it.

“He just keeps improving, he put the writing on the wall in Perth. It’s fantastic, He won quite well.”

WHAT A PERFORMANCE!

Light Infantry Man adds his name to the Australian Cup honour roll!@cmaherracing@Brown_ethan8pic.twitter.com/hYGa0DoULS

— 7HorseRacing 🐎 (@7horseracing) March 29, 2025

The Australian Cup was Brown’s eighth Group 1 win, seven of which have been for Maher, either as a sole trainer or during his partnership with David Eustace.

Brown duly hailed Maher’s support for him in recent years, a combination that has produced more than 80 winners at the outstanding strike rate of 20 per cent.

“It’s unreal, it means a lot to me and I do go on about it a lot but I just continue to get good support from Caron and this ownership group,” Brown said.

“They really batted for me the last 6-12 months and put me on their good horses and it’s just so rewarding to deliver them results.”

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While Light Infantry Man banked $1.5m for connections with his latest success, Pride Of Jenni, the $3.80 favourite, beat only one runner home.

Pride Of Jenni may have simply raced flat after her stirring first-up win at Caulfield earlier this month.

Newitt said there was no obvious reason for Pride Of Jenni finishing more than 15 lengths from the winner.

“A bit of a head-scratcher,” Newitt said.

“She flew the gates and I was happy with the first couple of furlongs and she had travelled well and we got to the 1200 (metres) and they were still there.

“I let her slide a little bit, but she was well and truly beaten at the 1000m, which was very unlike her.”

Part-owner John O'Neill celebrates with jockey Ethan Brown. Picture: Racing Photos via Getty Images

Newitt later told stewards Pride Of Jenni had worked well at Cranbourne last Tuesday, adding the mare travelled comfortably in the early stages of the Australian Cup before inexplicably weakening.

Maher reserved judgement on Pride Of Jenni, mindful the three-time Group 1 and All-Star Mile-winning mare potentially raced flat after the Peter Young Stakes (1800m) first-up.

“After a good performance, two weeks, it’s tough to do,” Maher said.

“I was very happy with her going in, I’ll have to assess her (in the morning)”

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A post-race veterinary inspection confirmed Pride Of Jenni pulled up with no abnormalities.

Deny Knowledge, a Group 1 winner in the spring, won a new fan in the form of her Australian Cup rider Craig Williams.

The Yulong-owned mare was too strong for Williams’ mount Mr Brightside in the Might And Power Stakes in the spring but Deny Knowledge impressed him with her bravery at Flemington.

“I can actually see how she beat (Mr) Brightside,” Williams said.

“She has got an unbelievable motor.

“The race didn’t go as we planned, but all-in-all we ended up getting a really nice run and to run second today, I thought was excellent.”

Third-placed Zardozi loomed up at the top of the straight but could not sustain her bid to deliver Godolphin a third straight win in the race.

Trainer James Cummings had won the past two Australian Cups after winning with Cascadian.

Originally published as Light Infantry Man marches to Australian Cup victory as stablemate Pride Of Jenni flops