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Resuming from a spell, Nicconi gelding Tuscan Falls showed some of the potential we now he possesses, finishing a good second over 1100m at Hawkesbury with Brenton Avdulla in the saddle.

Recording some very good trial performances last time in, the Gary Portelli-trained runner didn’t manage to produce that at his only start at the track last campaign.

Coming home well from a mid-field position, Tuscan Falls’ second placed finish indicates that he looks to have matured during his spell and we look forward to seeing what he can produce this campaign.

Likely to step up again in distance next start, fingers crossed the next story you read about him is that he has broken his maiden!

Purchased from the draft of Turangaa Farm at the 2013 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale, Tuscan Falls is pictured below as a yearling.

It is with heavy heart that we bring the news to his many clients and friends that Patrick Brain passed away in his sleep in England on Sunday night a few days short of his 71^st birthday.

Unbeknownst to us, Patrick had been ill for two weeks, and only his family were aware that his condition deteriorated quickly in that time.

While bringing you this sad news, it is important to reassure our clients that Brain Pedigree Analysis will continue without change into the future.

As part of succession planning for just such an event, Patrick’s son, Will, has been working with Patrick for eight years, with the past five years being on a full-time basis. In that time Will has done basically all the analysis work, initially under Patrick’s close supervision, and then as the computer systems were developed to a more advanced level Will has been doing the analysis work unsupervised as the computer analysis accurately reflected Patrick’s research findings and theories.

As computer technology became more advanced, the analysis programs had been developed to a level where the computers were able to do most of the analysis work and Patrick focused more on research and development while Will had been completing the analyses.

You will have noticed that in recent years the turnaround time of analysis work has been much quicker and has effectively been 24 to 72 hour turnaround times compared to what were once two to three week turnaround times for analysis work under the older computer programs. This faster turnaround period has coincided directly with Will’s commencement full-time in the business and the development of the computer technology to accurately reflect Patrick’s findings without his subjective review and input, which is how the system originally developed in the early 1990s.

This is a very sad day at Laurel Oak, as Patrick has become a close friend and business partner over the years. I first met Patrick at Hawkesbury races in 1987, when he and a friend, Peter, had a runner in the first race on the program. I went there for a day out with our trainer at the time, Kerry Walker, as he had a large team in that day. He asked me after the first to ‘look after’ the two gentlemen, and we ended up having an extremely jolly day in the Hawkesbury bar.

We subsequently became very good friends with both Patrick and Peter – friendships that have remained to this day. It was Peter who recommended Laurel Oak to Patrick in 1991, when Patrick was looking for an Australasian agent after completing his first year of commercial pedigree advice, coinciding with the English breeding season. When that first European season’s work started to taper, he realised that the Australian breeding season would complement the Northern Hemisphere work to provide a year-round income.

After a few phone calls and faxes back and forwards (there were no such things as emails back then), we realised that the extent of Patrick’s pedigree research put our amateur readings of various breeding publications to shame, and we took on the role as his Australasian agent. The rest, as they say, is history and we have been faithful devotees ever since.

Patrick Brain has serviced the Australasian breeding industry for 23 years. During that time, we have built up a strong and loyal client base that has enjoyed tremendous success in Australasian racing at all levels. Through Patrick, we have learnt so much about pedigrees that we hope to be able to continue to use for many years to come to provide Laurel Oak owners with successful racehorses, and all our Brain clients continued service with Will Brain now at the helm.

Even last Saturday there were winners Australia-wide up to Group 3 level that were bred and raced by clients following analysis recommendations by Brain.

Patrick Brain’s inquisitive mind and determined and relentless approach to research saw him develop a hobby interest into an internationally used pedigree-analysis tool.

We will miss Patrick greatly but we look forward to Patrick’s legacy continuing for many years to come, helping all owners and breeders buy, race and breed better racehorses.

Raced in partnership with her breeders and fellow owners, four-year-old War Pass mare Court Martial Miss achieved back to back wins for the team, producing a class record performance over the 1000m in the Southern IML Pathology Benchmark 60 Handicap.

Ridden by Andrew Gibbons, who had ridden the mare to her prior win, the Gary Portelli-trained mare is now unbeaten this time in and has a great record of two wins from three starts to date.

From the first of only two Australian-bred crops of the now deceased War Pass, Court Martial Miss is out of the Zeditave mare Grand Juror, herself a winner of five races and six placed efforts from 26 starts and almost $140,000 in earnings.

With Grand Juror now retired from the breeding barn, Court Martial Miss is the final “female” runner for her dam, with the current two-year-old from the mare named Plea Bargain, being a yet unraced gelding.

All at Laurel Oak Bloodstock would like to congratulate trainer Gary Portelli and the owners; Grant Bloodstock Pty Ltd, Mr K R Lowe, Mrs M P Lowe, Mr M A Couter, Mrs K Couter, Mrs E K Grant, Pardon and Mr G A Pointon on the win and we look forward to many more!

Having only her second career start, and her first of this campaign, four-year-old mare Court Martial Miss headed to Newcastle on Saturday to contest Race 4 of the day, the 3M Maiden handicap over 900m.

Trained by Gary Portelli, the mare was passed in as a yearling (pictured below) in the draft of Widden Stud and it was decided to keep her and Laurel Oak Bloodstock race her in partnership with breeders and a few other owners; Grant Bloodstock Pty Ltd (Mgr: S P Grant), M A Couter, Mrs K Couter, Laurel Oak Bloodstock Pty Ltd (Mgr: L J Mihalyka), Pardon (Mgr: K G Sheppard) K Lowe, Mrs M Lowe, Mrs E Grant & G Pointon.

Jumping out of the barriers well for Andrew Gibbons, the mare headed along the rail and she settled not too far from the leaders over the short trip.

As the home turned was reached and the leaders appeared to tire, the mare was pulled from around the heels of those in front to start to make her run.

The only danger to Court Martial Miss appeared to be the fellow Gary Portelli-trained runner, but our mare was too tough, taking the race by a narrow head margin from Lot Three Four One, with race leader First The Musket a length and a half back in third.

With only two starts to her resume to date, the War Pass mare still has a lot of racing in her and being the only filly to have raced out of the Zeditave mare Grand Juror, it would be great to get some more wins on the board to add to her residual value.