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A quick seven-day back-up into the $5 million Caulfield Cup field is set to suit Saturday’s gutsy 2025 Herbert Power Stakes winner Brayden Star with connections confirming plans to run the galloper in next weekend’s feature.
The Twilight Son seven-year-old improved on his fourth in the race last year to take top honours in this season’s Group 2 $400,000 Herbert Power Stakes (1400m) with a narrow but convincing win over the $4 equal favourites Plymouth (2nd) and Whisky On The Hill (3rd) on Caulfield Guineas Day.
Prepared by Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young, the gelding delivered a dogged performance, lifting late under Craig Williams to edge out his better fancied rivals in a thrilling finish.
“He certainly was (tough),” Williams said post-win.
“I rode him in this race last year, and when my manager said that we had to ride, he said, and the horse is going better than last year, and you ran well in this race last year.
“So, I can understand that. So, thanks to my manager, thanks to this horse’s determination, performance, and of course his trainers in Natalie and Trent.
“They’ve done it, and all their team has done a really good job with him.
“He’s pulled up, and he’s ready to go again.”
After settling midfield, he was produced at the right time by big race specialist Williams, who timed his run to perfection, and Brayden Star ($6.50) responded rallying late to punch through and book his ticket to next week’s Caulfield Cup.
“He had the better part of probably six months off after the spring last year,” co-trainer Busuttin said.
“He’s a seven-year-old, he’s taken a while to get to things. I thought he went great last start (when 5th in the Naturalism Stakes).
“He sort of got taken on from the twelve hundred and just knocked up. I thought this could be his race today.
“He’s a genuine horse. He’s been thereabouts and it looked a nice race for, he was good to kick back, the other horse had him cold, but he was strong.”
Williams said the team’s decision to take the blinkers off today proved the right call, and he also praised the horse’s fighting spirit.
“They had blinkers on him all this preparation, and they came off it today, and they were really fair in their instructions from a wide-ish draw and said, look, just ride him where he’s comfortable,” he explained.
“So, I basically had an open book. He was dancing around a lot in the gates, and I had snow out with him just to keep him calm, and as it turned out, he pinged the lids, and I was able to get into a nice position.
“He raced really well and kind for me, and when the chips were down, he was headed and he fought back to win.”
Brayden Star, who also ran fourth in last year’s Moonee Valley Gold Cup, was a controversial scratching from the 2024 Melbourne Cup field in a call that still stings Busuttin.
“He’s the soundest horse you’ll ever see,” he said.
‘He’s never had a shot of cortisone, obviously, the Melbourne Cup is different standards, the scans are what they are.
“But we were flat as anything when he was scratched out of the Cup because we knew there was nothing wrong with the horse.
“And as you can see, there’s nothing wrong with him now, so it’s just straightforward.”
He remains confident that Brayden Star is going as good as ever and will take his spot back at the track and trip in the Caulfield Cup.
“I’d say he will be,” he said.
“It’s a big step up. It’s a 5-million-dollar race or whatever it is, and he’s still keen enough in the first half of the race, we pulled the blinkers off him because of that.
“So, it’s a seven-day backup, it’ll knock the edge off him, and he’ll run all right.”
The last horse to complete the Herbert Power Stakes – Caulfield Cup in the same season was Master O’Reilly (2007).
The all-in quote on Brayden Star to be the next has been slashed from $51 into $34 through Ladbrokes.com.au.
If not the Caulfield Cup, fellow co-trainer Young said there were plenty of other options for the horse including potentially heading straight to the $10 million Melbourne Cup over the two miles at Flemington on November 4.
“He’d have to come through it well, there are options,” she said.
“You’ve got the Geelong Cup (Wednesday October 22), you’ve got the Moonee Valley Cup (Friday October 24), or you could just go straight into maybe a Melbourne Cup.
“I don’t know, we tried to get there last year and it didn’t quite go our way.
“But it’s just great that this horse has bounced back after the year that we’ve had.
“The owners have just been so patient with it, all the protocols that we had to go through with him and it’s just fantastic that he’s bounced back and won today.”
Brayden Star is currently listed at $51 in futures Melbourne Cup odds at Ladbrokes.com.au having firmed right in from $201 following the Herbert Power Stakes results.
No horse has been successful in winning the Herbert Power and Melbourne Cup in the same year since Rogan Josh (1999).
Herbert Power Stakes 2025 Results
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1st
8. Brayden Star (7)
J: Craig Williams 53kg
T: Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young |
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2nd
9. Plymouth (9)
J: Jamie Melham 53kg
T: Ben, Will & Jd Hayes |
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3rd
5. Whisky On The Hill (2)
J: Damian Lane 53.5kg
T: Glen Thompson |
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4th
1. Smokin' Romans (10)
J: Ben Melham 59kg
T: Ciaron Maher |
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5th
3. Young Werther (3)
J: Billy Egan 55kg
T: Danny O'Brien |
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6th
2. Post Impressionist (5)
J: Ethan Brown 55kg
T: Anthony & Sam Freedman |
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7th
10. Scary (8)
J: Dean Yendall 53kg
T: Emma-Lee & David Browne |
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8th
11. Taramansour (1)
J: Lachlan Neindorf 53kg
T: Phillip Stokes |
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9th
7. The Map (6)
J: Declan Bates 53kg
T: Dan Clarken & Oopy MacGillivray |
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10th
4. Earl Of Tyrone (11)
J: Harry Coffey 53.5kg
T: Ciaron Maher |
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11th
6. Lastotchka (4)
J: Beau Mertens 53kg
T: Mick Price & Michael Kent Jnr |
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