Star Witness' little bro toughs it out

Shir capped a sensational day for trainer Danny O'Brien as he made it three wins from three runners on Friday.

Shir, which is Persian for Lion, is half-brother to stallion and O'Brien's dual Group 1 winner Star Witness and his win showed he was a colt of substance as he fought of his rivals to score his maiden win at start two.

Earlier in the day, O'Brien had trained the first Australian winner for his Group 1 winning sire Shamexpress when Embrace Me won the two-year-old event at Werribee, before Shauquin made it a double at the venue with a tough win over 1400m in a BM64 event.

"It has been a great day. To win races at any time is great but to with close relations to some of stable stars of the past makes it all that sweeter," O'Brien said.

Jockey Ben Melham was thrilled with the win of the Sepoy three-year-old at Cranbourne under lights.

"That was a tough win as I had to get going early on him, and on the strength of that i think he will be winning better races in the future," Melham said.

Pic by Racing Photos