Trainer Bevan Laming proved once again why he's one of the country's best trainers of stayers when he won his third Brisbane Cup with Crossthestart at Eagle Farm.Laming teamed with his favourite jockey Chris Munce to land Saturday's 2400-metre Group Two feature with the five-year-old who set a race record of 2:27.52, shaving 0.66 seconds off the previous mark set by Newport in 2007.Laming and Munce had previously won the Brisbane Cup when it was a Group One over 3200 metres with Desert Chill in
Trainer Bevan Laming proved once again why he's one of the country's best trainers of stayers when he won his third Brisbane Cup with Crossthestart at Eagle Farm.
Laming teamed with his favourite jockey Chris Munce to land Saturday's 2400-metre Group Two feature with the five-year-old who set a race record of 2:27.52, shaving 0.66 seconds off the previous mark set by Newport in 2007.
Laming and Munce had previously won the Brisbane Cup when it was a Group One over 3200 metres with Desert Chill in 1995 and 1997.
Crossthestart ($12) recorded his ninth victory from 29 starts with a 1-1/4 lengths win over Scouting Wide ($6) with Ekstreme ($21) just a nose away third.
Munce's success continued his great form since returning to Brisbane earlier this year and winning the Group One Queensland Oaks on Miss Keepsake last week.
Laming revealed he was the fourth trainer to prepare Crossthestart but he knew from the first day he came into his stables he was a stayer.
"Ralph Manning, Roger James and Peter Moody had him before me but they thought he was a sprinter," Laming said.
"From the first day I got him I thought he was a stayer."
Crossthestart's win proved a worthy consolation for Laming who earlier watched his star filly Ringa Ringa Rosie go down to Pressday in the Group One TJ Smith (1600m).
Laming plans to take both gallopers to Melbourne in the spring with Ringa Ringa Rosie aiming for the Group One Thousand Guineas (1600m) at Caulfield while Crossthestart will head to the Group One Caulfield Cup (2400m).
"I was always confident he could win on a firm track," Laming said.
"He's a good stayer and this is only his second preparation over ground.
"I think 2400 metres is an ideal distance for him and the Caulfield Cup is the race we're after."
Laming said maturity was Crossthestart's biggest problem early in his career but he was now developing into a strong stayer.
"He's by Cape Cross and they all seem to be slow maturers. He was only an average horse when I first got him."
Munce tried valiantly to ride Crossthestart more quietly following his previous defeat in last month's Premier's Cup at Doomben.
"I purposely didn't try to dig him out of the gates but he was still fairly aggressive and wanted to pull at times," Munce said.
"He didn't spend a penny in the run and the last thing I wanted was to be cluttered up so I went three wide."
Jockey Tye Angland thought he was going to win when Scouting Wide kicked clear in the straight.
"They left me alone when I was in front and gave me a nice run," he said.