ELEPHANT TARGETS TOORAK

Elephant to tackle the Toorak Handicap

Browne has been encamped in the state of Victoria since the start of August with a small team of horses travelling across the ditch to compete in the Spring Carnival. 

His wife Emme-Lee has remained at their home base of Cambridge to oversee the running of there New Zealand Stable but you can’t blame the option of dividing resources in order to conquer the riches of Spring.

The four horses that travelled with David Browne to Melbourne have already racked up 16 starts since the beginning of August and achieved $375,000 in prize money. 

Arguably the star performer on the trip has been the Kiwi cult hero, Elephant who has racked up two wins as well as a narrow second in the Group 2 Feehan Stakes at Moonee Valley in September.

With two months prep under the belt, Elephant will now be knuckling down for the serious prize money available in Spring when competing for a share of $600,000 this weekend in the Toorak Handicap.

Having already raced at Caulfield, Browne is confident that there will be another strong performance from Elephant in the Toorak.

“He should be better for the run at Caulfield,” Browne said.

“Hopefully there won’t be too much rain because he’ll be at his best on a good track.

“He’s just got that bit extra on the really good ground.”

Depending on how Elephant performs on Saturday there could be a high road and a low road as options for the 5 year old with a run in the Cox Plate likely the ultimum prize.

“As long as he goes well on Saturday, I think we’ll be having a go at the Cox Plate,” Browne said.

“We’d like to be winning on Saturday to aim for that but there’s other options as well if he doesn’t get to the Cox Plate.

“There’s plenty of other directions he can go if he’s looking like he wants to have another run.”

Jockey Damien Lane is booked to ride Elephant in the Toorak Handicap with the Kiwi currently sat at $5.50 in betting. 

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