Ted has Brown's colours back in the winner's circle

Jonny Turner Harness Racing Journalist

Murray Brown’s outstanding trainer career may have ended but his colours are still making their way into the winner’s circle.

The outstanding Southland horseman enjoyed another victory when Lauren Pearson produced Ted to win for driver Nathan Williamson at Winton on Saturday.

Ted transferred to Pearson’s stable earlier this year after Brown closed the doors on his Ascot Park barn after establishing himself as one of Southland’s best trainers during his 35-year training career. 

Brown won  551 races and just about all of Southland’s feature and cup races over that time and he has many career highlights to look back on fondly.

“There are plenty of good memories to choose from and a few bad ones, you know what horses are like,” Brown said.

“Beaudiene Bad Babe would have to be the best of them, she could do it all.”

“She never knocked herself around, she was just the perfect horse.”

“She would just run around with the rest of them at home but she knew when it was race day.”

“We had a heap of good ones over the years, Highview Jude, Freeway Don and horses like Awesum Teddy.”

“We won most of the cup races in Southland but I think there was one we missed out on.”

Though he isn’t hands-on anymore, Brown’s horses will continue to be seen in Southland.

“I qualified a two-year-old filly by Bettor’s Delight and we have a brother to Ted as well as a Sweet Lou foal.”

Brown races Ted with Andrew Grierson of Woodlands Stud who he struck up a racing connection with many years ago.

“I didn’t know him until he was billeted with us for the yearling sales tour down here, that was probably 15 years ago and we have had a few horses together since.”

The Sweet Lou four-year-old hadn’t been handed much racing luck leading up to his Winton victory, but he’d been running home strongly in his recent races. 

On Saturday, it could have been a similar story until Williamson found clear air for the pacer late.

“He has been going good races, but we always seem to draw badly with the preferential draws.”

“He has always had speed, but he hadn’t shown that at the races.”

“But he is getting better, they ran home in 27.6sec (400m) and he would have gone better than that coming from behind them.”

The feature event at Saturday’s Winton meeting was taken out by another Sweet Lou pacer.

Canterbury raider Picadilly Pete took out a highly tactical running of the Central Southland Cup for trainer Matt Purvis and driver Matthew Williamson.