Kiwi-breds fight out Caulfield thriller

[Wandering Eyes]

A pair of New Zealand-breds drew clear to fight out a thrilling finish to the A$150,000 Evergreen Turf Handicap (2000m) at Caulfield on Saturday, with Rogan (NZ) (Super Seth) edging out Stylish Secret (NZ) (Sweet Orange) to score an upset win.

The Cliff Brown-trained Rogan went into the three-year-old race under the radar, having recorded one win and one placing from his eight career starts beforehand.

His maiden win came over 1600m at Kilmore on April 5, and he followed that up with close fourth under 61kg in a Benchmark 58 handicap over 2025m at Cranbourne on April 18.

Rogan was sent out as a $31 outsider on Saturday but vastly outperformed those expectations.

After settling in third-last for jockey Patrick Moloney, Rogan began to improve his position out wide as the field made their way down the side of the track.

At about the same time, Stylish Secret and his jockey Jake Noonan made a big move out of midfield and swooped around the outside to challenge for the lead straightening for home.

Stylish Secret took command at the 200m mark but was quickly joined by the strong-finishing Rogan. That pair moved more than two lengths clear of the rest of the field and fought out a head-bobbing finish, which Rogan won by a head.

Rogan’s nine-start career has now produced two wins, a placing and A$110,970 in stakes. He is trained by Cliff Brown, who was represented at Caulfield on Saturday by his assistant trainer Tony Lane.

“This horse has always been a stayer in the making,” Lane said. “It’s taken a while for the penny to drop, and he was still a bit wayward today.

“We planned to be a bit more positive in this race, but he didn’t step all that great at the start and Patrick had to take his medicine and go back.

“He got into a bit of a tricky spot, but then he just kept building and building and was really strong through the line. It was a good win.”

Rogan was bred by Waikato Stud and is a son of their exciting young stallion Super Seth, whose service fee was this week increased from $45,000 to $75,000 for the upcoming season. Super Seth sired his first three Group One winners in March – Feroce (NZ) in the Australian Guineas (1600m), Linebacker (NZ) in the Randwick Guineas (1600m) and La Dorada (NZ) in the Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m).

Rogan’s dam is the winning O’Reilly mare Tiara (NZ), a granddaughter of the Gr.1 Auckland Cup (3200m) winner and Gr.1 Queensland Oaks (2400m) placegetter Royal Tiara (NZ) (Blanco).

Tiara is also the dam of the Brown-trained Savabeel gelding Von Hauke (NZ), whose three wins include the Gr.3 Shaftesbury Avenue Handicap (1400m) at Flemington in March of last year.

“Von Hauke’s manners don’t help him a lot of the time, so I think he could get up over more ground if his racing manners were a bit better,” Lane said. “But this bloke has always shown that he was going to be a stayer.”

Waikato Stud offered Rogan in Book 1 of Karaka 2023, where Cliff Brown Racing bought him for $50,000. Saturday’s runner-up Stylish Secret is by Sweet Orange out of the Savabeel mare Scarlet’s Secret (NZ). The gelding has recorded two wins and two seconds from a 10-start career to date.

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