Brutal impresses again in the McKenzie Stakes

The Mapperley Stud graduate Brutal tasted success at stakes level for the first time after a convincing win in the Listed McKenzie Stakes at Moonee Valley on Saturday. Following on from his impressive five length debut victory, Brutal was sent out a short priced favourite in the feature event and saluted the judge in fine style with another dominant performance.

A $220,000 yearling from Mapperley Stud’s 2017 draft, Brutal sat just off the speed and finished intently down the outside for leading Victorian jockey Dwayne Dunn to easily claim the leader in the last 50m.

“He’s a seriously good sort with plenty of upside and improvement to come.” said co-trainer Wayne Hawkes

“It’s only his second start and it’s still all new to him.”

Team Hawkes are now eyeing a Gr.1 challenge for the colt but remain undecided on whether to step him up in distance to the Gr.1 Caulfied Guineas (1600m) or stick to the sprint distances with the Gr.1 Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m) an option. Both fine targets for this seriously talented 3yo Colt!