Stephen Brown and Jye McNeil have combined with Lady Jones ($14) to take out the Group 3 Tesio Stakes and final race of the day at Moonee Valley on Saturday afternoon.
Following a consistent run of form throughout her three starts this preparation, and after a positive ride from McNeil, the five-year-old mare claimed her maiden Group win.
The daughter of Toronado jumped the fastest from barrier 10, which allowed her to cross the field to settle outside of Lievore ($31), and they ran the race along at a sedate tempo to suit themselves.
With the race favourites, Firestorm ($2.50) and Private Legacy ($4.20), settling well back in the field, McNeil got going on the eventual winner at the 400m mark and put the acid test on the leader.
None of the swoopers were taking any ground of the top two with 200m to go, and they both settled down to fight out the finish, with Lady Jones getting her head down when it counted to claim a tough win over Lievore and Little Mix ($7.50).
2024 Tesio Stakes replay – Lady Jones
Stephen Brown was on course to speak about the win post-race.
“Really nice (win) because we’ve bred her ourselves and it’s been a long haul,” Brown said.
“I had doubts about the 2000 (metres), but she’s proven that she can do it.
“We were gutted when she got beaten at Caulfield, but we put it down to the hard track.
“She’ d only got shod that week, so she had a bit of trouble with her feet.
“We left the old shoes on her and she’s done the job.
“I talked to two form people, and one said go back, one said go forward, and then the go-back bloke said, no, then you should go forward. So that was the plan.
“That was the plan to go forward on her. He did exactly what he did and I said ‘if you can slot in third or fourth, I’ ll be happy’.”
Jye McNeil brought up his first winner of the day in the last race, and he spoke post-race.
“We had a nice run from a very awkward gate and felt like I got to the leader quite easily and then it obviously fought back so she had to dig deep to give me everything she had, but a great training performance by Brownie and racking up a win,” McNeil said.
“She certainly does (have good ability).
“It’s my first time riding her. Obviously, the opportunity obviously came about with the weight and as you touched on, she’s got great qualities.
“It’s been a challenging couple of days for me, so great to end it this way.”
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