Melbourne Cup Carnival: Lady Jones heads to Flemington after Sale heat success

Rural trainers will vie for glory when they converge at Flemington on Thursday for the $500,000 Melbourne Cup Carnival Country Final. See the starting field here.

David Johnston

2 min read

November 8, 2023 - 5:00AM

The Weekly Times

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Mangalore’s Stephen Brown is among the many country-based trainers vying for glory in the $500,000 Melbourne Cup Carnival Country Final (1600m) at Flemington on Thursday.

The race has brought together the winners and runner-ups of heats held at country tracks since late September with Brown booking his berth in the final with lightly-raced mare Lady Jones victorious on Sale Cup day.

To be eligible, horses must have been with Victorian trainers who did not have more than 15 metropolitan winners last season.

Trainer Stephen Brown with his horse Lady Jones, which is running in the Oaks Day Country Final at Flemington. Picture: Jay Town

Brown has been based at his 161ha hectare farm on the banks of the Goulburn River for four years where growing lucerne and running cattle “de-stresses” him from his main job as a trainer with between 15 to 20 racehorses in his care.

“We are going to retire here so it’s a great little place for us,” he said.

“I love farm work.

“I grow a bit of lucerne, we’ve got 100 Black Angus 9 out the back.

“It ticks over nicely and de-stresses me.”

Brown was born in Darwin and rode close to 1000 winners in a 35-year career as a jockey before taking up training that has included a four-year stint in Macau.

Lady Jones won the Sale heat of the Melbourne Cup Carnival Country Series. Picture: Jay Town

He rode in 11 Darwin Cups as jockey and was placed in 10 of them, but finally won the race that had eluded him for so long as a trainer in 2004 with Mr Tambourineman.

Lady Jones has had 11 career starts for three wins, three seconds and a third and Brown has retained the services of leading jockey Craig Williams for the final

“This race has been on the radar for a while,” he said.

“We went to Sale for the heat and were good enough to win.”

Brown jointly owns the horse with long-time stable supporter, Peter Jones, who lives in Perth.

Trainer Matthew Williams and jockey Dean Yendall after Toregene won the Country Final at Flemington last year. Picture: Michael Klein

The other heat winners were top-weight Dashing (Bendigo), Euphoric (Geelong), Red Phantom (Horsham), Think Warning (Cranbourne), Poison Chalice (Murtoa) and Helix (Benalla).

Warrnambool-trained Toregene won the final last year for trainer Matthew Williams and jockey Dean Yendall.

Yendall will ride Horsham heat second placegetter Dothraki in this year’s final.