Brown records first Group win in Shirley Turnbull Memorial with Cya Art

The driver recorded his first ever Group victory in Tuesday night's Shirley Turnbull Memorial (2,790 metres) when Cya Art ($4.60) powered away from the field to win the annual classic at the Bathurst Harness Racing Club.

Despite putting in work on the Jason Grimson-trained gelding to take the early lead, Brown was still able to send the five-year-old well clear of his rivals when he asked for his runner to kick things up a notch.

Cya Art won in a strong mile rate of 1:56.6 over the lengthy trip to see off runner-up Taipo ($6, Brad Hewitt) by seven metres, with Star Major ($26, Taylah Osmond) running third.

Brown was thrilled to achieve his major career milestone.

"It feels pretty awesome," he said.

"These are the races that you work hard for and the reason you get up early and get into it. I'm just glad that all the hard work is paying off and I'm getting some feature races."

Cya Art emerged unscathed from a dramatic and brutal start to the race that took favourite Mach Da Vinci immediately out of the running.

Wow Hes A Rockstar galloped out of gate two and left Mach Da Vinci on the back row with nowhere to go, forcing the favourite to retire mid-race.

Out in front the battle for the lead was an intense one.

Kanena Provlima eventually found the front after inside starter Balraj initially refused to give up the spot.

Brown didn't wait a long time to make a move, surging up along the outside to take up control of the race before the field passed the winning post for the first time.

Taipo loomed up on the penultimate lap to sit on the outside of Cya Art at the bell.

The pair, along with Kanena Provlima, gained a small break over the rest of the field on the final bend.

But Kanena Provlima broke stride when diving for the sprint lane and Taipo had no answer for the injection of pace that Cya Art brought inside the last 200m.

The New Zealand import was runner-up in his first two Australian starts at Young and Menangle, but broke through for his first win in the country in impressive style.

Cya Art had raced for three and a half years in New Zealand before joining the Grimson stable for his Australian debut in the Young Cherry City Cup earlier this month.