Joshua Brown wins Ōpunake Cup, gives Lance Gussey biggest career win

Joshua Brown receives his acclaim after winning the Listed Ōpunake Cup (1400m) at New Plymouth on Saturday. Photo / Race Images Palmerston North

The rookie pair of Joshua Brown and his owner-trainer Lance Gussey took out one of New Zealand racing’s biggest winter prizes in Saturday’s $120,000 Listed Sinclair Electrical & Refrigeration Opunake Cup (1400m) at New Plymouth.

Things have happened quickly for Joshua Brown, who made his debut 15 months ago in April 2024, and also for Cambridge-based Gussey and his wife Angela. With only five horses in work, Gussey now boasts four wins from 20 career starters.

Gussey is continuing the thoroughbred legacy of his late father, Joshua Brown’s breeder Ron Gussey. Joshua Brown gave the younger Gussey his first training success at Rotorua in May last year, followed by two more at Te Rapa in September 2024 and June this year. But Saturday’s black-type triumph tops them all.

“That was amazing,” Gussey said. “Lynsey Satherley gave him a perfect ride and the horse did us proud. It’s a great feeling.

“The horse has come a long way in quite a short time. He’s a bit of a hard horse to get a line on when he’s fit, but I think he’s fit now!

“I really don’t know where we’ll go with him from here. We’ll have to talk about it and make a plan. This was the race we were targeting and we’ve done it, so I think we’ll just enjoy that for now.”

Saturday’s Ōpunake Cup was the 13th start of Joshua Brown’s career. The Dalghar gelding has now won on four occasions, placed in another three and has banked $149,540 in stakes.

Drawn the outside gate in an 11-horse Ōpunake Cup field, Joshua Brown broke only fairly and eased back to settle in second-last. With leaders having won all of the previous five races on the card, that seemed to be far from an ideal place to be.

But Satherley allowed the 5-year-old to roll forward midway through the race, improving around the outside of the field and drawing up alongside the leader Spencer before the home turn.

Joshua Brown pounced and took command in the straight, pulling ahead of a tiring Spencer.

Soldier Boy emerged as a threat with a powerful late finish down the outside, but Joshua Brown saw him coming and lifted again. He kicked away in the final 75m and won by a length with his ears pricked.

“This means a lot,” said Satherley, who has ridden Joshua Brown in all but one of his 13 starts. “He’s a champion horse for champion people. They’ve been loyal to me and this horse has been great.

“He’s not the easiest. He’s probably one of the hardest horses I’ve ever dealt with. You’d never get an exhibition gallop out of him, and some days we’re lucky if we can even gallop him. But he’s got a tonne of ability and he’s done it pretty easily today. He doesn’t even really know what he’s done.

“It was a muddling race, they didn’t seem to really know what they were doing, so I just kept him happy. He’s a horse you’ve got to keep happy.

“He rolled around them easily. To be fair, he probably could have won by more, but he does wait for them.

“I don’t really like travelling, so I probably wouldn’t have come down this far today if I didn’t rate this horse highly. It was well worth it for him.

“He’s got a bright future. You’ve just got to play around with this horse. He’s not Mr Easy. You’ve got to keep him happy and let him think he’s winning.”

– LOVERACING.NZ News Desk