Brown and Harding to set to battle again at Esperance with region’s leading trainers holding large squads

After lifting his seasonal tally to 11 winners with a Boxing Day hat-trick, local trainer Josh Brown will again have a fearsome representation at Esperance Bay Turf Club’s January 3 fixture. From just 35 starters, Brown has bounded clear in the early stages of the Bay of Isles season and sits seven wins clear of fellow Esperance trainer Helen Harding in the premiership standings. The two club leaders will compare notes in the opening race of Friday’s program, with Harding having four runners to Brown’s two. However, Brown’s pair do look hardest to beat, with Sugared Up coming off a last-start second where she appeared to have cut out an unassailable lead before being gathered up by Harding’s Keep A Knockin’. Fifth in that event was The Man Himself, who again appears a top chance for Brown after going off favourite and closing off satisfactorily in that contest. Eight-year-old veteran Westernize surprised punters by flashing from last to first in his latest run, and will look to repeat his success in the second race for Brown. Mungo Jerry is an early contender for Esperance horse of the year after two seconds and a win so far this season, but Brown’s five-year-old will face his stiffest test in race three. Chief among the dangers he faces is Harding’s Uncompromised, who ripped through the grades at this circuit when winning four races in the opening three months of 2024. Sniper’s Son is sure to appreciate a class drop in the fourth event, destroying a Kalgoorlie maiden field before racing the State’s best three-year-olds in the Belgravia Stakes at Ascot. Brown also has Dubai’s Daughter engaged, an impressive three-length winner last week when first-up for the new camp. Another that has developed the winning affinity for Brown this season is Royal Accolade, who must surely be one of the biggest horses in training throughout the region. His long, easy strides have carried him to victory twice already this preparation, and given his stature, the 60.5kg impost may well prove insignificant. Last-start winner Dandy’s Gem and Boxing Day victor Minor Detail are Brown’s duo in the sixth race to close out the leading trainer’s catalogue for the afternoon. Harding has starters in every contest in the afternoon, however, with Floppy and Hughbert involved in an open-looking final race on the card.