24/01/2025
What a story. Congratulations to Leek Racing and all connections. 🥰
So Brave winning at Mornington
Eagle-eyed racing fans might have noticed the faint remnants of scars on So Brave when he returned to scale after a seemingly nondescript 2050-metre maiden win for John Leek and Dan Stackhouse at Mornington on Sunday.
Sometimes, scars and blemishes tell a story of a cheeky or cantankerous horse who can get itself into sticky situations in fences, stables or horse floats.
In So Brave's case, they hint at a much more incredible tale.
For Melissa Peters, the daughter of So Brave's Perth-based breeder and owner Bob Peters, it's a story that she always hoped would include a chapter about the death-defying youngster winning a race.
As a weanling, the son of So You Think was involved in a serious truck crash and fire en route from New South Wales back to Perth.
He survived. Eight other foals didn't.
"It's pretty incredible," Peters said.
"He was involved in an accident in May 2021 when a car drove into the truck outside of Kalgoorlie.
"He and seven of our other weanlings were being transported home from NSW.
"The truck caught on fire and the bravery of the driver was incredible -he had 16 horses on there, the electrics wouldn't work so he was manually able to open one of the doors and eight horses were able to get out.
"Eight others unfortunately perished, either because of the fire or smoke inhalation.
"Little So Brave was in the back section of the truck and had to jump over a few of his travel mates that had already died to get out.
"He and the others ran off down the highway and the local Kalgoorlie racing community, led by Peter Fernie, were able to round them up and keep them
For six weeks the little c**t received round-the-clock care at a vet hospital as he fought for life.
His burns needed bathing and his bandages needed changing. He needed plenty of love too, but thankfully that was never in short supply.
Peters said there was never a thought of giving up on the youngster, who is a brother to the family's Group 2 Perth Cup winner Midnight Blue and closely related to Stakes winners Demonetization and Neverland.
"He was so badly burnt and his leg was torn open, so he spent about six weeks The Animal Hospital at Murdoch University in Perth," she said.
"The wound was horrendous and he had burns all over his body and he still carries those scars today.
"The burns needed constant treatment, so the vet students were bathing them twice a day and the bandages were being changed all the time, it was a huge effort.
"He took a lot of treatment and I believe he still holds the record for the longest time as an in-patient there.
"It was a bit expensive but that's what you do, don't you?
"I don't think there was ever any thought that he would have to be euthanised, we made him our project to work on and basically said that we'd do whatever we needed to get him going.
"When he got home to the farm, there was constant care there so our farm manager was staying in the stables with him for a period of time."
The Peters family have won some of racing's biggest prizes, but Sunday's win meant just as much as any of their G1 triumphs, Peters said.
Tears of joy mixed with bursts of pride as Peters, her daughter Ellie and even the truck driver involved in the crash back in 2021 celebrated the unlikely win.
"That is how he got his name and why we are all so excited to see him win on Sunday," she said.
"My daughter Ellie has taken him on as her horse, she was a teenager when he came home and she was there on one of the days when the vets came out to treat him.
"He was sedated so they could change the bandages and he fell asleep in her arms and that's where the love affair began.
"She tries to get over (to Melbourne) to see him as much as she can.
"I was crying all day after the race, it was such a satisfying win.
"I feel like he won a Group 1.
"I received an email from the truck driver as well and it made his day which was nice because it's been a very horrific thing for him to have to carry, going through all of that."
