Von Hauke finds golden redemption; Hayes brothers score Gold Rush three-peat

WITH Von Hauke buried behind a wall of horses, Mornington trainer Cliff Brown admitted to being overcome by a feeling of déjà vu as the field rounded the home turn in last Saturday’s Listed Golden Mile at Bendigo.

A little over 12 months earlier, Brown watched as the son of Savabeel found himself in the same position in the same race, searching for a way through the field.

When a run did open up, it was too late, with Von Hauke flashing home for a luckless fourth.

This time around, Brown would not be left wondering.

As a gap opened up at the 250m, jockey Harry Coffey took full advantage, bursting through to steer the six-year-old gelding to a stirring victory over a surging Wonder Boy, with Shickletz close by in third.

Brown conceded his thoughts returned to last year when Von Hauke rounded the home corner with just a few horses behind him.

“I thought it might be history repeating itself that’s for sure,” he said.

“But good on him. He’s a lovely horse and he seems to be getting better.

“Mentally he’s better. Physically they take time but mentally he’s a lot better. He still over-races a little bit but he’s far better than he was.”

Brown is now planning a Queensland campaign with Von Hauke, a winner of five of 27 career starts, including a possible tilt at the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) on June 1.

“That would be nice,” he said.

“That sort of race or something a little bit less but he’s not far off them.”

Jockey Harry Coffey admitted the race had not exactly gone to plan.

“I found myself a little bit further back than I would have liked but he does have a great turn of foot,” Coffey said.

“I made a bit of a move between then 400 and 300 and he really tracked into it like the winner, but all of a sudden they were coming back sharply and I had to divert back to the inside.

“He just sustained a really nice rhythm while diverting and held his gallop and then when I fully asked for the supreme effort late, he continued to find.

 

“He was the best horse in the race and he just needed things to be run the way he likes.”

Meanwhile, the debuting Marffiano gave Team Hayes their third consecutive win in the $250,000 VOBIS Gold Rush (1100m).

A half-brother to one of the stable’s star three-year-olds Tycoon Star, the two-year-old kicked start his career in style with a tough half-length win.

“To come out and win a big VOBIS race is a big thrill,” co-trainer Ben Hayes said.

“He jumped, he travelled beautifully and gave a kick.

“He’s been a bit of a slow burn. He’s a very slow learner, that’s the best way to put it, hence he was running with the winkers today.

“He’ll come out one morning and do his work well, but he’d come out the next time it would be like we’d never taught him to do anything, and he’d get it totally wrong.”

“We’ve just got to see how he pulls up, but he’s won a big race now and we might just cuddle him and give him a nice break before the spring.”

Hayes was delighted with the effort of the stable’s other runner in the race, Resonant, who finished second and was also on debut.

The Lindsay Park stable won the 2024 VOBIS Gold Rush with Bold Bastille before backing up again last year with $2.25 favourite Killiana.

Third in the race was Rich Running for Bendigo trainer Jarrod Robinson.

A Gold Rush quinella was part of a big day for the team, which notched up a winning treble through wins with Seafall and Stoli Bolli.