Irish star hopes King Charles’ horse can send him out a winner
By Craig Kerry
Irish young gun Dylan Browne McMonagle is looking to the King’s horse, Gilded Water, and a Ciaron Maher-trained stablemate to send him home on a high on Saturday.
The 21-year-old will end his second off-season stint in Australia with six rides at Randwick before catching a 9.30pm flight to spend the Christmas-new year period at home.
Dylan Browne McMonagle after winning on Snitzanova.Credit: Getty Images
The four-time group 1 winner, who rides regularly for champion Irish trainer Joseph O’Brien, then travels to Dubai for a likely one-month stint before returning to prepare for the UK season.
“That will be a good experience,” Browne McMonagle said of another trip to Dubai.
“Joseph’s got one or two horses going over, and I think Galen is one of them, so I’m looking forward to that.
“He’s a nice horse, and he showed plenty at the start of the year. He’s fairly talented, so hopefully he can adapt to the Dubai style of racing and show what he can do.”
Browne McMonagle broke through for his first Australian stakes win during this stay, riding Snitzanova for main supporter Maher in the group 3 Spring Stakes at Newcastle on The Hunter day.
Based in Sydney this year, after staying in Melbourne first time around, Browne McMonagle also rode in Victoria and Queensland. He collected a double at the Ballarat Cup meeting and hopes to come back to Australia again next year.
Dylan Browne McMonagle breaks through for his first Australian stakes win on Snitzanova (right) in Newcastle.Credit: Getty Images
“It was good to get two winners down there and catch up with all my Melbourne friends and people I worked with last year, and to get one for Matthew Smith the other night at Canterbury was great,” he said.
“It’s been a good time. The weather has been good, I’ve met plenty of new people and learnt some things as well. I didn’t see any sights, though, just horses between the two ears.”
Browne McMonagle’s best chances on Saturday shape up as Gilded Water and Garza Blanca.
Gilded Water, owned by King Charles III, made his debut in Australia at Kembla’s The Gong meeting on November 23 and won the 2000m benchmark 78 by a half-length with a grinding effort down the straight under Jason Collett.
The Fastnet Rock four-year-old is the $2.40 Sportsbet favourite to repeat the result over 2400m in 78 grade on Saturday, despite carrying an extra three kilograms.
Englishman Tom Marquand, another to have success in Australia, rode Gilded Water in three of his four starts in Great Britain, and Browne McMonagle said he will seek him out for advice.
“He obviously looks like a horse with a profile that he’s only going to improve with time,” he said.
“It was good to get his head down the last time, so hopefully he’ll improve from that, and he can keep impressing. It’s really nice to ride in those colours, so hopefully we can get the job done for him.”
Maher expected Gilded Water to be even better over 2400m.
“He’s a progressive stayer, and I think he did a good job to win at a mile and a quarter, and he’ll be much better suited to the mile and a half, and beyond,” Maher said.
“He’s got to just learn his craft a bit; he’s still fairly green, and he’ll be acclimatising. Generally, the best time, if they can handle that, is when they are in work.
“It looks a nice race for him on Saturday.”
Garza Blanca is a $5 hope in the 1100m benchmark 94, after a last-start win in the listed Doveton Stakes at Caulfield.
“Ciaron’s been good enough to put me up on some of these horses that have got good chances, so hopefully we can produce the goods and have a good weekend and go off on a high,” Browne McMonagle said.
Maher said the I Am Invincible five-year-old was headed to the $1 million Magic Millions Syndicate race on January 11 on the Gold Coast.
“I had it double entered for the weekend,” Maher said. “I opted, just because the weather is a bit iffy up there, just to keep him down here, and he’s in a good spot.”
Maher hoped to have Browne McMonagle back for a third stint.
“He’s a very good jockey, and I’m fortunate that he likes to come out here, because he’s had a pretty busy year,” he said. “He’s been a great asset to the stable.”