After the sad passing of their former superstar sprinter My Bro Fabio, Jamie and Brooke Ennis are chasing a timely boost to their spirits in Thursday night’s Group 1 RSN Sandown Cup final (715m).
The successful Lara-based husband-and-wife training team are playing a ‘caretaker’ role with West Australian finalist We The People, a $12 chance with TAB from box two in the world’s most prestigious staying event.
Victory would be a welcome change of fortune after recently losing My Bro Fabio and missing out narrowly in the last two Sandown Cup finals with Ella Enchanted, which ran second in 2019, beaten less than a length by Rajasthan, and fourth last year.
The powerhouse My Bro Fabio boasted a 50 per cent strike rate, winning 26 of his 52 starts, highlighted by three G1 victories.
The son of Turanza Bale won the Perth Cup and Temlee back-to-back in February 2015, having previously claimed the 2014 Hume Cup by a staggering 15 lengths, while he also won the G3 Canberra Cup and Listed Australian Sprint at Sandown.
Despite competing with superstar sires Fernando Bale and Barcia Bale, My Bro Fabio made his mark at stud, producing a host of Group performers, notably Blazing Cartier, Grace Ali, Paua Of Oscar, Spring Bridge, Sweet As Emm, Benkennie Chic, Paradiso Lass and Tritt Tritt.
“Brooke and I don’t have any children so he was everything to us,” Jamie said.
“He was definitely the best dog we’ve ever had. He changed our lives.
“His chase and will-to-win were enormous. You don’t see back-markers do what he did at a high level.
“When he was at his peak he won the Canberra Cup, Hume Cup, Australian Sprint, Perth Cup and Temlee during a four-month period where he was basically unbeatable.
“He produced some good dogs at stud but never had that Group 1 winner, which makes all the difference. Fernando Bale and Dyna Double One had just retired when he went to stud so he was up against it because he wasn’t going to get the best bitches.”
We The People, which started her career in NSW before relocating to WA in the second half of 2020, embarked on the Sandown Cup trail after running second to Cup favourite Zack Monelli in the G1 Galaxy in Perth last month.
The daughter of former star Victorian sprinter Peter Rocket started $1.90 favourite in last Thursday’s heat and after settling at the rear of the field, as is her trademark, ran second to all-the-way winner Kenny The Brute in 41.76sec.
“When we bought her I thought if she could win a few Grade 5s at Cannington I’d be over the moon,” said Sean Kavanagh, who trains We The People and races her in partnership with Peter Cameron and Ryan Levitzke.
“She ran second in the Galaxy so she’s already exceeded our expectations. We’re proud of her regardless of what happens on Thursday.
“I said to the other boys who own her that if she ran top three in the Galaxy we’d go to the Sandown Cup and they didn’t let me forget what I’d said, so here we are!
“One of the reasons I decided to send her over to Victoria and didn’t go with her was because you never know what’s going to happen with COVID and borders shutting.
“It was the right decision and Jamie and Brooke (Ennis) have been great. I didn’t know them from a bar of soap beforehand but they have a very good reputation and run a small kennel like myself and I wanted to keep things as similar as possible.
“She’ll be last early so I don’t think boxes really matter but I’d prefer her near the rails, especially with the early speed in the one (Zack Monelli). It’s such a difficult race but with a bit of luck hopefully she’ll be in the finish somewhere.”
