Brave Mead wins Manfred Stakes at Caulfield as King Colorado charges into equal favouritism for Australian Guineas

Consistent galloper Brave Mead won the race, courtesy of a smart Blake Shinn ride, but the Australian Guineas-bound King Colorado finished strongly for a promising first-up second.

TAB cut King Colorado’s Australian Guineas quote from $11 to $6 after his Manfred Stakes run, joining his Caulfield Guineas-winning stablemate Griff at the top of betting for the March 2 event.

Shinn persevered pressing forward until Brave Mead assumed control of the Manfred Stakes from the $2.20 favourite Steparty.

Shinn put the pre-race plan into action before the home turn, quickening the tempo and demanding Brave Mead’s six rivals chase for the last 400m.

Brave Mead ($5) tired late but held a length margin over King Colorado ($11) at the end of the $200,000 race, which could be the last stakes win Maher enjoys with David Eustace before their training partnership ends after Saturday’s racing.

“Great ride by Blake Shinn,” Maher said.

“I said to Blake, ‘take the luck out of it and roll along, he’s fit and well’.

“He took the bit between his teeth early and that was the winning move.”

Maher said punters could expect to see Brave Mead continue to compete over distances no longer than 1400m for the remainder of his preparation.

The premier trainer is likely to send King Colorado, a Group 1 winner in Queensland as a two-year-old, to Flemington for his next run in the Group 3 CS Hayes Stakes next month.

“King Colorado was super and it was great to see him return like that,” Maher said.

“The Australian Guineas is his target and I thought Flemington would be ideal for him.”

Steparty was outsprinted from the home turn but held third ahead of the Peter Moody and Katherine Coleman-trained Amigo.

Originally published as Brave Mead wins Manfred Stakes at Caulfield as King Colorado charges into equal favouritism for Australian Guineas