Any win Ben Brisbourne achieves with Fontein Jewel is a special one, but the two-year-old’s win in the first race at Flemington on Saturday held particular significance.
The Lucky Vega colt’s win in the $150,000 TAB We’re On Handicap (1420m) was the young English trainer’s first at the track since being granted stables on-course at Australia’s most famous racecourse in early May.
Brisbourne still has his Wangaratta stable, which is where Fontein Jewel was listed as being trained out of before Saturday, but he counted the victory as one for the team.
“It the third Flemington winner for us, but the first one at Flemington since we’ve been had a base down here,” Brisbourne said.
“So that’s a big tick and hopefully it gets us noticed a little bit more, especially with these young younger horses.
“It just proves that what we’ve put in place so far is working and we look forward to plenty more successful, hopefully.”
Fontein Jewel, who started $7, turned in a tough performance to score by three quarters of a length from Insolence ($6.50), who edged out the fast-finishing Spirit Of Macedon ($5) for second.
It was the second win from five starts for Fontein Jewel, who headed to Flemington off a second placing in the Elvstroem Classic (1300m).
Fontein Jewel’s win came just over five years after his dam, Fontein Diamond, won the $250,000 Country Mile Final at Moonee Valley on All-Star Mile Day and Brisbourne said it was special to be winning good races with her son.
“It’s really nice, because he’s the first foal out of Fontein Diamond, who was my first big winner as a trainer,” Brisbourne said.
“She would have put some toughness into him and then the stallion’s just put a little bit of a class.
“It’s absolutely brilliant for Chris (Morey) and Terry (Hurford), who bred him and support me every year with taking shares and horses, to get a big reward here.”
