Brave by Name, Brave by Nature
Thu 16 Mar 2023
WINNER 14 OF 2023: BRAVE EMPEROR, trained by Archie Watson and ridden by Luke Morris: The feature, £60,000 'Road to the Kentucky Derby' Conditions Stakes over 1m at Kempton.
Reunited with Luke Morris, after their Listed win last time out, this was a competitive feature race, which was no surprise considering the £60,000 prize pot!
Drawn 4 of 7, he broke well and initially led, but was headed over 6f out. Racing prominently on the outer, Luke asked him for an effort at the cutaway and he led again 2f out. Driven inside the final furlong, he faced a strong challenge as two horses came to him, but he kept on strongly towards the finish and very gamely won by a head.
"Batting back, is Brave Emperor!" Watch the full race replay here: https://www.racingtv.com/results/uk/434929-kempton-park/15-Mar-2023/1900
Timeform rated it as an a p97 performance, saying: "Has made up into a useful perfomer this year but didn't need any progress to back up his recent listed win in France, showing a good attitude to hold on by a narrow margin; close up, led over 1f out, driven final 1f, edged left, stuck to task, well positioned.”
The Racing post made him their 'Star performer' of the meeting, saying: 'Brave Emperor (7.00) stuck his neck out in willing fashion to win again.'
Syndicate manager Tom says: "This is becoming very repetative, but well done to his owners - on yet another win! He showed such a gutsy attitude there in the last furlong but Luke and the horse showed their class. Of course this was actually the 6th time he has passed the post first, from 7 starts (losing one in the stewards room) which is a terrific record and he is an exciting racehorse to own.”
We have added some limited shares in Brave Emperor, which you can see here: https://www.middlehamparkracing.net/horses/view,brave-emperor_1442.htm