KINGSTON, Jamaica - Perfect Brew, a four-year-old bay gelding bred by Bern Identity — Moonlight Brew, continued to demonstrate noticeable progress after winning the second staging of the Alsafra Trophy on Saturday, June 10, 2023.
Perfect Brew, trained Richard Azan, came from way behind in the three-year-old and upwards Overnight Allowance call at a mile (1,600m) to win going away by six lengths in a time of 1:38.0 (23.4 x 45.4 x 1:11.1).
Former Horse of the Year Further and Beyond finished second after a 343-day layoff following surgery to remove chip bones from his knees, in the latter part of last season. Third was Stomp The Rhythm.
“I went through his racing form to see which races he won and how he won them. I realised he’s a strong horse when he comes from behind, and that was the plan for the race,” the winning jockey said in his post-race interview.
“I was not really concerned when Further and Beyond was so far in front, but leaving the two-furlong marker, when I gave him [Perfect Brew] a couple of cracks from the whip, he started to respond and so I kept riding him and he won,” Dawkins said.
Further and Beyond (Ameth Robles) jumped out to an early lead ahead of Crimson (Reyan Lewis) and Bern Notice (Raddesh Roman) as Perfect Brew settled behind in a waiting posture.
Further and Beyond began to open up on the field down the backstretch, ahead of Stomp The Rhythm (Anthony Thomas) and Marquesas (Tevin Foster).
Further and Beyond blazed the path through the half-mile (800m) turn, some 10 lengths ahead of Stomp The Rhythm, with Perfect Brew getting into overdrive going off the final turn.
Dawkins delivered his mount for a tremendous effort and Perfect Brew pushed past a fatigued Further and Beyond in the closing stages.
Perfect Brew was one of Dawkins’ three victories on the day. He also triumphed on Jaguar and Big Guy in the Sky.
“I am delighted for the winners and grateful for the connections,” he stated.
“It’s on and off because sometimes you have a good day and then you have a bad day; it’s just racing, but I’m happy with the winners.” ‘The goal is to keep my championship,’ Dawkins explained.
