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“I always back his mounts. I have $2 each way,” she says. “But I’m more interested in him as a person, rather than trying to win money.”
Simonetto lost sight of Brown after he left Our Lady of the Sacred Heart College junior campus for the year five-to-eight campus at the end of grade four. But a chance meeting at Alice Springs Airport about eight years ago, when Brown had returned from Melbourne to ride in the Alice Springs Cup, helped them reconnect.
“I saw him in the airport lounge, and I went up and introduced myself, and he said, ‘Oh, of course, I remember you’,” she says. “So we started chatting after that.
Jimmysstar and Ethan Brown win the Russell Balding Stakes on November 1.Credit: Getty Images
“From then on, I kept an interest in his riding. I come to Melbourne more frequently now, so usually at Flemington, I always go down to the fence and wave to him as he goes past.”
Brown’s journey from Alice Springs to the Melbourne spring carnival is not a well-worn path.
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Cox Plate-winning hoop Steven Arnold is one of the few other jockeys to have made it out of the central Australian town to the big time.
“I grew up racing motocross,” Brown explains. “My dad [Paul] was right into motocross, and I got into that with him. I was okay at it.
“But I don’t know, I suppose it was probably more realistic making a living out of maybe being a jockey than a motorbike rider.”
Brown says he did not sit on a horse until he was 14, after he was introduced to the industry by his mother Sonia Donnelly and stepfather Ronny, who were social members of Alice Springs’ Pioneer Park and knew trainers in the area.
“I couldn’t really get a job at McDonald’s or KFC or wherever because I was too young, so thought I’d get a job at the stables working before and after school,” Brown says.
“The stables were about a 15-20 minute drive from where we were living so mum and dad and Ronny were very busy as Uber drivers.
Trainer Ciaron Maher and jockey Ethan Brown.Credit: Getty Images
“I was quite natural. I was pretty natural on the motorbike, and I was natural on a horse, too. But I still had to work really hard because it was a whole new sport I had to learn.”
Apprentice jockeys need to ride a certain number of trials, but Alice Springs did not have enough horses.
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So Brown was invited to Melbourne by jockey coach Matt Pumpa to help fulfil his quota. His natural ability in the saddle caught the keen eye of experienced trainer Mick Kent, who offered the 15-year-old a job.
“It was a no-brainer to make the move, but it was one thing doing it and another thing, you know, sticking it out and trying to make it last,” Brown recalls.
“Within two weeks, I was done. I thought I was going to go home, definitely.”
The kindness of others got him through it.
“I had good people around me,” Brown says. “I had a good boss in Mick Kent who I was living with at the start, and Jake Bayliss and Beau Mertens were both apprentices at the same time. They helped me through that sort of homesickness, tough period.”
After finishing his apprenticeship, Brown formed a valuable friendship with trainer Ciaron Maher.
They have combined for 54 winners, including five group 1 victories and finished third in Tuesday’s Cup with Middle Earth.
Along the way, his fan base has continued to grow, including one proud grade one teacher.
“It’s funny, looking back on it, that she was my primary school teacher but yeah, I mean she’s a great supporter,” Brown says.
“She goes to the races and gets a lot of enjoyment, I believe, out of watching me ride.”
Simonetto kept in regular contact with Brown’s mother, Sonia, having also taught his three sisters, Talisa, Grace and Chelsea.
Ethan Brown, far right, before riding Light Infantry Man in this year’s Cox Plate.Credit: Getty Images
But she was initially reluctant to reach out after the young jockey suffered career-threatening injuries during a horror fall at Flemington in March 2023.
He had three life-saving operations for internal injuries, including a lacerated liver, at Royal Melbourne Hospital and spent a week in an induced coma.
“I was devastated,” Simonetto says. “I was watching it on TV at home, and I saw the horse roll on top of him, so I knew it was bad.
“A couple of times over those few months when he was rehabbing, we’d correspond.
“I just kept trying to encourage him and tell him that he’d be good at whatever he did. It didn’t matter what he decided to do in the future.”
Despite being unable to speak for a month because his vocal cords had been bruised by ventilation equipment, Brown was not done with racing.
It took 12 months and two comebacks before he felt comfortable in the saddle again.
He did so, he says, with the help of family and friends, including jockey and now fiancée Celine Gaudray, who finished fifth in this year’s Melbourne Cup.
Brown has not added to his tally of nine group one victories this spring, but it is only a matter of time before he reaches double figures.
He is riding in all three group ones at Flemington on Saturday - outsider Jedibeel in the Champions Sprint, last-start winner Von Hauke in the Champions Mile and the improving Maher runner Pier against Via Sistina in the Champions Stakes. Simonetto will be watching from Alice Springs.
But his best chance will be on Jimmysstar next week at Caulfield in the Orr Stakes when Simonetto will be trackside to cheer him on.
“It’s really lovely after all these years of teaching to know that you still have that connection with your past pupils,” she says.
“There’s a lot of past pupils I hear from occasionally who are doing really well, either in Alice Springs or Melbourne or Adelaide.
“But he stood out because he was such a quiet little boy who never caused any headaches for teachers.
“And he took good care of his sister. I remember him bringing her in and standing there at the door until she was unpacked.”
Champions to take centre stage
The best-of-the-best converge on Flemington on Saturday for Champions Day, including a heavyweight clash between fan favourites Pride Of Jenni and Mr Brightside in the $3 million group 1 Champions Mile.
They will take on two other stars of the turf in Treasurethe Moment and Ceowulf in the 1600m event, while Cox Plate winner Via Sistina steps out to defend her crown in the $3 million Champions Stakes (2000m).
James McDonald wins the 2024 Champions Stakes on Via Sistina.Credit: Getty Images
Predicted rain is expected to see the track downgraded during the afternoon, meaning it will suit horses with good wet track form.
VRC Champions Day
First race: 12.40pm
Last race: 5.50pm
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Track: Good 4. Rail: Out 9m. Weather: Showers, expected top of 16 degrees.
Race 6: $3m Group 1 Champions Sprint (1200m), 3.50pm
The favourite: Tentyris smashed his rivals in the group one Coolmore Stud Stakes on Victoria Derby Day and many expect the three-year-old colt, trained by Anthony and Sam Freedman, to become the new star of the sprinting ranks. The trainers said they would scratch Tentyris if the track became heavy.
The threats: The Clayton Douglas-trained Giga Kick will be suited by the rain and is looking to return to the form that saw him win The Everest in 2022, while Chris Waller’s Joliestar loves the Flemington straight but prefers dryer ground.
Arch rivals Mr Brightside, left, and Pride Of Jenni will clash again in Saturday’s Champions Mile.Credit: Getty
Champions Sprint tips: 1st Tentyris (No.10), 2nd Giga Kick (No.1), 3rd Joliestar (No.6), 4th Magic Time (No.7).
Russell says: Expecting Tentyris to seize the mantle of the country’s best sprinter, providing the track does not become a bog from the expected rain.
Race 7: $3m Group 1 Champions Mile (1600m), 4.30pm
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The favourite: Ten-time group one winner Mr Brightside is this country’s most consistent galloper at the elite level, and was unlucky not to win group one King Charles Stakes behind Ceowulf last start. He loves the wet.
The threats: Mr Brightside’s arch rival Pride Of Jenni returned to her front-running best with an all-the-way win in the Empire Rose Stakes on Victoria Derby Day, Treasurethe Moment ran a bottler in last month’s Cox Plate, finishing a close third behind Via Sistina, while Ceowulf flew late to win the King Charles Stakes.
The value: The UK-trained Lake Forest can cause a boilover if he has recovered from a poor showing behind Ceowulf and Mr Brightside in Sydney.
Champions Mile tips: 1st Treasurethe Moment (No.9), 2nd Ceowulf (No.2), 3rd Mr Brightside (No.1), 4th Pride Of Jenni (No.7).
Russell says: If the Cox Plate is our best race, then Treasurethe Moment’s effort to finish third behind Via Sistina is a great pointer for the Champions Mile. All indications are that she handles soft ground.
Race 8: $3m Group 1 Champions Stakes (2000m), 5.10pm
The favourite: Via Sistina would have to catch a new strain of COVID-19 to lose this race. It is a weaker field than the Cox Plate and the track comes up soft or heavy by late in the afternoon, that won’t bother her at all.
The threat: Anthony and Sam Freedman have set Tom Kitten for this race, and they are masters of peaking their horses at the right time. He finished fourth behind Pride Of Jenni in the Feehan Stakes and fifth behind Ceowulf in the King Charles Stakes at Randwick.
The value: Pier is a lightly raced gelding who finished side-by-side with Mr Brightside in the King Charles Stakes behind winner Ceowulf, while Attrition (fourth) and Light Infantry Man (fifth) bring Cox Plate form and can both handle soft ground.
Champions Stakes tips: 1st Via Sistina (No.10), 2nd Tom Kitten (No.1), 3rd Pier (No.6), 4th Attrition (No.4).
Russell says: Via Sistina is the reigning horse of the year for good reason - she is a superstar of the track. She did the Cox Plate-Champions Stakes double last year, and while she is not travelling as well this time around, I still expect her to do the same again.
Champions Day quaddie: 1st leg: 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 10, 2nd leg: 1, 2, 7, 9; 3rd leg: 10; 4th leg: 2, 6, 10, 11.
$10 on this quaddie combination would return 10.4% of the winning total.
