2025 BRC Sprint: War Machine wins for Lindsay Park

The Australian

24-05-2025

The Lindsay Park dynasty has a golden chance to win its first Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap after War Machine proved he was a machine by blowing away his opposition in the Group 3 BRC Sprint.
With the race offering a golden ticket into next month's Stradbroke, War Machine was sent out the well-backed $2.40 favourite and did the business under Blake Shinn.
It was the icing on the Doomben cake for Shinn who not long earlier had won a record-breaking fourth Group 1 Doomben Cup, riding Queensland freak Antino to glory.
War Machine's BRC Sprint triumph prompted bookmakers to elevate the four-year-old – who had been trained by the late Mike Moroney prior to his death – to outright $5 Stradbroke favourite.
Lindsay Park founder Colin Hayes never won the Stradbroke Handicap, nor did his son David but grandsons Ben, Will and JD Hayes will now chase Queensland's biggest race.
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'That was an unbelievable effort by the horse,' JD Hayes said.
'We've only had him a short time.
'He came in incredible condition from Ballymore and we've been very lucky to inherit him.
'It looked like we'd get a beautiful run from the barrier and he's let down well.
'He had his ears pricked on the line and we're really looking forward to the Stradbroke.'
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Man of the moment Shinn paid tribute to the late Moroney.
'I had a little bit to do with this horse when Mike Moroney trained him and he did a great job nurturing him in his early days,' Shinn said.
'The Hayes boys are the beneficiary of that.
'If he runs in the Straddy, I think he'll be hard to beat.'
While War Machine was dominant, Far Too Easy also stood up to be counted in finishing runner-up and Murwillumbah trainer David McColm indicated a Stradbroke mission was on the cards.
Far Too Easy is the fairytale horse who has survived deadly floods and bacterial infections and surged to glory in last year's $2m The Kosciuszko at Randwick.
He has since produced a couple of lacklustre runs but his BRC Sprint effort was much better and his rating will almost certainly get him a Stradbroke berth.
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'The winner was too good today but I thought my horse's effort was great,' McColm said.
'He did what we know he can do.
'Assuming he goes to the Stradbroke, the weight difference in that race will be a big difference for him.
'He needed to do something today to go towards the Stradbroke.
'We had been disappointed with his last two runs but we have had a lot of wet weather in New South Wales and it's been a hard slog these last six months
'I think we have got him back.'