Crimson War catches fire for Corporate Dollars

By Isaac Murphy

Michael Brauer brought Crimson War back from a spell with high hopes in late November, but tough draws in races like the Derby led to some rough results at headquarters.

Searching for answers, Brauer took the dog to Ipswich and the change of track brought a change of luck.

From first reserve into box one, he blitzed them on his debut and proved it was no fluke with another win in last Saturday’s Corporate Dollars heat where he’ll go searching for a hat-trick in Saturday night’s Final.

“We’ve been really happy with his last couple of runs, we’ve been waiting for an inside draw - he just hasn’t had one since he’s started racing - and as soon as we took him to Ipswich he got a couple of reds and showed what he was capable of,” Brauer said.

“We go in quietly confident out of box five in the Saturday’s Final, he seems to jump a bit better at Ipswich than at Albion; runs a straight line rather than crashing, we’ll see how he goes from the middle draw.

“It’s not that he’s a bad Albion Park dog, he’s just been in tough races against good dogs.

“Sentenced, Mitchell Street and even Micks Recall back at his first start have all got the better of him, I think this stint at Ipswich will be great for him the in long run.”

Crimson War would’ve been racing at Ipswich earlier if not for injury, but he way it has played out means that he goes into Saturday night’s Corporate Dollars at peak fitness.

“We’d wanted to get him to Ipswich for a while, the Derby was a target before his injury, so he missed that and his only other run up there was 31.02 a week before his first win - it’s fair to say we were pleasantly surprised when he came out and ran 30.53,” Brauer said.

“He only got a run in that race last month as first reserve and came up with box one, I thought his luck might be changing a bit and why not set him for the Corporate Dollars and he was able to come out and run a replica in the heats.”

There’s plenty of class in Saturday’s Final; Group 2 Casino Cup Winner Phantom Bonnie and run home extraordinaire Ninetymile King just two of the dogs who’ll be making it tough for Crimson War.

“The box draw has made it an interesting race, Spring Cleo in box one has a bit of early speed, but if we can hold Phantom Bonnie out from the seven it’ll give us the best shot at winning the race,” Brauer said.

“Even if we get an uncontested lead it’s far from over, Ninetymile King has been making plenty of headlines with his run home and with good reason, so we’ll have to be running time again to hold him off.

“On our last two wins, a lot of people probably think he needs to lead to get it done but I don’t think it’s the case, he can’t come from last but he loves the chase and could pick up a few spots in the run if needed.”

The pair of wins have been a breath of fresh air for Brauer, who knew he had a good one that just wasn’t finding the right race.

“He’s had ability since we started trialling him, that’s why I’ve tried to bite off some bigger races, he’s just been a bit green and is starting to find his way as a race dog,” he said.

“He was all over the place in his maiden behind Micks Recall and then ran a huge race in his Novice where he lost about six lengths to get up and score.

“The last few months have been a bit frustrating because he hurt his toe and then wasn’t getting the results, but he’s still only had 14 starts for four wins - he’s still on the way up.”

Crimson War is home-bred, something that Brauer is very proud of establishing his own line.

“We take a lot of pride in him having raced his mother Sivamet who won from 300 to 600 metres, so we decided to breed with her we just had to settle on a sire,” he said.

“We’d had a few dogs out of Hostile ourselves over the years and even though he’s not one of the more recognised sires, fellow trainer and good mate Warren Nicholls highly recommended him so we bought a straw and are very happy with what we got.

“He’s only just turned two not long ago, there’s plenty of potential there and I think we’re just starting to see it - he’s one to watch in a few months.”