Syd Brown Trainer RIP at 99yo

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   ‘Great storyteller, wonderful horseman': Trainer Syd Brown dies
Syd Brown, the legendary trainer of champions like Redcraze, Daryl's Joy, Wood Court Inn, Classic Mission, Triton and Kista, passed away on Sunday.
The former New Zealander who called Sydney home for more than five decades would have turned 100 in October.
Brown, a NZ Hall of Fame inductee in 2014, was an institution at Warwick Farm where he trained.
"Syd was a good friend and mentor, a great storyteller and a wonderful horseman, '' trainer Ron Leemon said.
"I was up early for trackwork on Sunday morning when I got a text from Errol to let me know that his father had passed. It's a sad day.''
Brown first came to prominence as the trainer of emerging champion Redcraze, winner of the 1955 Turnbull Stakes before finishing fourth to Toparoa in the Melbourne Cup.
Redcraze was later transferred to Toparoa's trainer Tommy Smith and won the 1956 Caulfield Cup, Metropolitan Handicap and Brisbane Cup.
Brown then had success during the 1969 Melbourne spring carnival with Daryl's Joy winning the Cox Plate and Victoria Derby, and Wood Court Inn took out the Thousand Guineas.
Classic Mission then gave Brown the 1971 AJC Derby-Victoria Derby double before the trainer decided to move to Sydney the following year and set up stables at Warwick Farm.
Brown had immediate success when his mighty miler Triton edged out champion Gunsynd in an epic 1972 Epsom Handicap and brilliant mare Kista won the 1973 The Galaxy.
He finished third in the trainers premiership in his debut Sydney season behind greats Tommy Smith and Jack Denham.
Brown continued to train winners out of his Warwick Farm stables until he retired 20 years ago.
Rod Craig, best known as the trainer of eight-time Group 1 winner Intergaze, was Brown's neighbour at Warwick Farm stables for many years.
"I remember one time when I was training I had about 50 horses in work and they kept running fourth and fifth, and I was thinking what am I doing wrong,'' Craig said.
"Syd came over and gave me some advice that I have never forgotten. He said it doesn't matter if you have 10 or 100 horses in work, every trainer goes through a lean period so just keep working hard and it will turn.
"He was right, of course. He was a great horseman and a real good bloke.''
Brown's sons Errol and Bruce also became successful trainers in their own right.
Bruce Brown continues to train out of Doomben and prepared Calaway Gal to win the 2002 Golden Slipper.
This might entice Bonjour back 

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Gay3 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Moderator Group Joined: 19 Feb 2007 Location: Miners Rest Status: Offline Points: 55608	Post Options Post Reply Quote Gay3 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Syd Brown Trainer RIP at 99yo Posted: 18 May 2025 at 6:44pm
	‘Great storyteller, wonderful horseman': Trainer Syd Brown dies Syd Brown, the legendary trainer of champions like Redcraze, Daryl's Joy, Wood Court Inn, Classic Mission, Triton and Kista, passed away on Sunday. The former New Zealander who called Sydney home for more than five decades would have turned 100 in October. Brown, a NZ Hall of Fame inductee in 2014, was an institution at Warwick Farm where he trained. "Syd was a good friend and mentor, a great storyteller and a wonderful horseman, '' trainer Ron Leemon said. "I was up early for trackwork on Sunday morning when I got a text from Errol to let me know that his father had passed. It's a sad day.'' Brown first came to prominence as the trainer of emerging champion Redcraze, winner of the 1955 Turnbull Stakes before finishing fourth to Toparoa in the Melbourne Cup. Redcraze was later transferred to Toparoa's trainer Tommy Smith and won the 1956 Caulfield Cup, Metropolitan Handicap and Brisbane Cup. Brown then had success during the 1969 Melbourne spring carnival with Daryl's Joy winning the Cox Plate and Victoria Derby, and Wood Court Inn took out the Thousand Guineas. Classic Mission then gave Brown the 1971 AJC Derby-Victoria Derby double before the trainer decided to move to Sydney the following year and set up stables at Warwick Farm. Brown had immediate success when his mighty miler Triton edged out champion Gunsynd in an epic 1972 Epsom Handicap and brilliant mare Kista won the 1973 The Galaxy. He finished third in the trainers premiership in his debut Sydney season behind greats Tommy Smith and Jack Denham. Brown continued to train winners out of his Warwick Farm stables until he retired 20 years ago. Rod Craig, best known as the trainer of eight-time Group 1 winner Intergaze, was Brown's neighbour at Warwick Farm stables for many years. "I remember one time when I was training I had about 50 horses in work and they kept running fourth and fifth, and I was thinking what am I doing wrong,'' Craig said. "Syd came over and gave me some advice that I have never forgotten. He said it doesn't matter if you have 10 or 100 horses in work, every trainer goes through a lean period so just keep working hard and it will turn. "He was right, of course. He was a great horseman and a real good bloke.'' Brown's sons Errol and Bruce also became successful trainers in their own right. Bruce Brown continues to train out of Doomben and prepared Calaway Gal to win the 2002 Golden Slipper. This might entice Bonjour back
	It takes a wise man a lifetime to grow a tree and a fool five minutes to kill one.

Second Chance Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Champion Joined: 02 Dec 2007 Status: Online Points: 56826	Post Options Post Reply Quote Second Chance Report Post Thanks(1) Quote Reply Posted: 18 May 2025 at 6:56pm
	Thanks Gay3. Syd certainly had a long innings. And you can bet your last that Bonjour will have have vivid memories of him both in NZ and Oz, and needless to say rode work for him in Kiwiland at very least.

djebel Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Premium Joined: 07 Mar 2007 Status: Offline Points: 56200	Post Options Post Reply Quote djebel Report Post Thanks(1) Quote Reply Posted: 18 May 2025 at 11:26pm
	I will always remember a good horse of his called Our Poverty Bay. Fantastic horse.
	reductio ad absurdum

furious Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Champion Joined: 19 Feb 2007 Status: Offline Points: 30976	Post Options Post Reply Quote furious Report Post Thanks(1) Quote Reply Posted: 19 May 2025 at 10:01am
	Daryl's Joy still sometimes crops up in SW from the USA. He certainly trained some good ones.

Lord Hybrow Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Champion Joined: 05 Jul 2015 Location: Australia Status: Offline Points: 7739	Post Options Post Reply Quote Lord Hybrow Report Post Thanks(1) Quote Reply Posted: 04 Jun 2025 at 2:58pm
	Syd passed away a few weeks ago aged 99. I notice that there’s a ‘Vale Syd Brown’ Handicap being run as the last race a Warwick Farm today. But this is really only a minor recognition for someone who is a historically significant figure for our sport. Racing really does a poor job of recognising past greats. Surely a full Saturday card with races named after Syd’s champion horses could have been done - Redcraze Hcp, Triton Hcp, Classic Mission Hcp, Daryl’s Joy Hcp, etc. Naming non-black type races after great horses & horse people used to be common place in the 80’s & 90’s but that seems to be superceded by sponsorship names. I’m probably the only one that cares about this stuff anyway Maybe someone else can post this in a better format, but check out the some of the superstar horses that Syd trained during his career….wow https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=h_Rg3k4dqHs&pp=ygURU3lkIGJyb3duIHRyYWluZXI%3D

Freefall Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Champion Joined: 04 Dec 2013 Status: Offline Points: 8410	Post Options Post Reply Quote Freefall Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 28 Jul 2025 at 8:53pm
	Not sure how I missed this LK. Thanks, great video. I’ve watched it once and think I heard that Syd surpassed the NZ season prizemoney record in 1967? $67,000!!! (might have been $69,000…but wow! I really love these old blokes 😀 Another thing I noticed, the confirmation of thoroughbreds has changed considerably, even in the last 60-70 years?

Plastic letters Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Champion Joined: 21 Jan 2023 Location: Sydney Status: Offline Points: 12925	Post Options Post Reply Quote Plastic letters Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 28 Jul 2025 at 9:02pm
	As a kid I thought Triton as a special horse

Gay3 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Moderator Group Joined: 19 Feb 2007 Location: Miners Rest Status: Offline Points: 55608	Post Options Post Reply Quote Gay3 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 28 Jul 2025 at 9:22pm
	I loved him too, such a striking, top class horse
	It takes a wise man a lifetime to grow a tree and a fool five minutes to kill one.

Freefall Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Champion Joined: 04 Dec 2013 Status: Offline Points: 8410	Post Options Post Reply Quote Freefall Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 28 Jul 2025 at 9:42pm
	Obviously my post meant to thank LH 😡

Freefall Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Champion Joined: 04 Dec 2013 Status: Offline Points: 8410	Post Options Post Reply Quote Freefall Report Post Thanks(1) Quote Reply Posted: 28 Jul 2025 at 9:45pm
	I’m pretty sure I was at Randwick this day. Saturday 23 September 1972: Gunsynd and Kevin Langby edge past Triton and Larry Olsen as they flash past the post in the Hill Stakes at Rosehill. It was the second time that the pair had clashed and the second time that Gunsynd had taken the honours, the grey having beaten Triton at their first encounter in the Doncaster Handicap earlier in the year. With the score at 2-0 to Gunsynd, the Kiwi WFA star didn’t have to wait long to have another crack at the grey, that crack coming in the Epsom Handicap, just one week after the Hill Stakes. Triton started 6/1 in the Epsom, behind equal favourites Red God and Latin Knight, both at 5/1. Bookies decided to take-on Gunsynd who had 62 kgs on his back, betting 10/1 about his chances. If you were at Randwick that day you would have witnessed a colossal battle as Gunsynd and Triton left the big Epsom field in their wake, fighting out a desperate finish over the last 200m. At the post it was Triton by a half head, Beaches was three lengths away, third. After the Epsom, Gunsynd and Triton would clash just three more times during their careers, with the champion grey winning all three (’72 Caulfield Stakes, ’72 WS Cox Plate and the ’73 Rawson Stakes) and Triton being unplaced on each of those three occasions. (Photo: Martin King)

Freefall Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Champion Joined: 04 Dec 2013 Status: Offline Points: 8410	Post Options Post Reply Quote Freefall Report Post Thanks(1) Quote Reply Posted: 28 Jul 2025 at 9:51pm
	Younger people these days might think the story about Gunsynd delaying his canter to the barriers until he got crowd applause…normally on the “flat” at Randwick…is a bit of a myth. I promise it was true.

furious Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Champion Joined: 19 Feb 2007 Status: Offline Points: 30976	Post Options Post Reply Quote furious Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 29 Jul 2025 at 9:45am
	Freefall I went and saw him at Kia Ora after he went to stud. They just let us wander down and he loved the attention. Then I saw Baguette across the lane and went to say hello. Well Gunsynd slumped off to his shed and looking around you could see him glancing around the corner. He was in a huff. But all was forgiven when we came back to his side. He was a very intelligent horse who loved attention. So stopping was his way of getting that applause which he craved. Mind you there is no way except for a great heart that helped him finish third in a Melbourne Cup. What damage that trying run must of done to that heart.