By David Nagel
Cranbourne trainer Michael Kent Jnr continued a rich family heritage on Saturday when he co-trained Globe to victory in the $500,000 Ladbrokes Cranbourne Cup (1600m).
Kent Jnr was trackside celebrating his birthday in 2010 when his father Michael Kent trained Starmon to victory under gun-jockey Glen Boss.
But it was ‘Juniors’ turn to shine on the weekend, with Globe giving co-trainer Mick Price his third victory in the cup in the last 11 years.
Price, now at Cranbourne but then training at Caulfield, prepared Pakal (2013) and Octabello (2018) to previous cup triumphs.
Despite being a Cranbourne local for a large part of his life, Kent Jnr had to overcome a hometown jinx to take a grip on the prize.
Globe dictated terms from the early stages of the race, defeating fellow on-pacers Air Assault and Dashing in the run home for glory.
Globe’s win capped off a great day for jockey Ethan Brown, who claimed a treble on the 10-race card; including the feature double after early piloting Nadal to victory in the inaugural running of the $1million The Meteorite (1200m).
Kent Jnr was thrilled with the win post-race.
“It’s fantastic for the owners because we took a big punt on this race,” he explained.
“He’s a 17-hand horse getting around Cranbourne where I have my worst strike rate, and I thought, greed is good for a $500,000 race…what do you do?”
Globe is a lightly-raced six-year-old gelding, who exploded onto the scene early last year, winning his first four outings in very impressive fashion.
He won back-to-back races at Pakenham, then was given a light freshen up before streeting his rivals in consecutive meetings at Sandown.
After his first-four starts, Globe had a perfect winning record by a combined margin of 14 lengths!
But injuries have since taken their toll, with Price and Kent Jnr finally getting him back to full fitness this preparation.
He finished fourth in the Group-3 Moonga Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield, and then put a flashing light beside his name with a second to Light Infantry Man in the Listed Chester Manifold Stakes (1600m) at Flemington on Oaks Day.
Price and Kent Jnr left no stone unturned in preparation for the cup, bringing Globe to Cranbourne on Tuesday morning to help settle his nerves for cup day.
”I think bringing him here on Tuesday was a good idea because he is a high nervous energy horse and he did belt out a bit of energy on Tuesday morning…but the kid (Ethan) did a good job on him,” Kent Jnr said.
“It’s not that hot today; I know it’s hot, but it’s not hot where the horses are really stressed.
“I thought the kid did a good job with him out the back and they hosed him and kept him cool.
“The horse was in good nervous order; his wheels weren’t fizzing around his head, which they can.
“I think the more racing he does, the better he’ll be.”
Brown said he could sense that Globe had improved from his rock-solid run in the Chester Manifold.
“In his work the other day, I felt he’d improved,” he said.
“I was just right there when he dealt with things today.
“It was a hot day, which could have easily brought him undone, but he was in the right hands and he kept his cool.
“We established such a beautiful lead. He pricked his ears. I knew I was on a fit horse to have it up the tempo a long way out and try and break them, and that’s what happened.
“He’ll improve again out of this run.
“I’m confident he’ll get back to where they thought he was heading before he got injured.”
Globe’s victory made it four cups in a row for local trainers; following in the footsteps of King Magnus (2021), Uncle Bryn (2022) and Charterhouse (2023).
Globe defeated Air Assault by a half-length on the line, with the gallant Dashing a length further back in third place.
Damian Lane was the only other jockey to taste multiple successes on the program, piloting Savoir Fair to victory for Mark Walker in race seven, before finishing off the card with a hard-fought win aboard Kevin Daffy’s exciting five-year-old mare Oh Too Good.
Oh Too Good, trained at Pakenham, started a red-hot $1.40 favourite but forced to dig deep to hold off the Ciaron Maher-trained Igotcha.
Christine Daffy, the wife of Kevin, said Oh Too Good was a potential starter on Pakenham Cup Day on Saturday 21 December.
“That’d be lovely if we could be there for a race on Pakenham Cup Day,” Christine highlighted.
“That’d be very special because that’s our home track and that one’s a very special track to us.”
Oh Too Good has now had four wins and three seconds from his seven career starts since winning his debut run at Pakenham in early February this year.
