Stradbroke Handicap (Group 1)

THE five-year-old mare Tofane added a second Group 1 to her resume in winning Queensland’s premier sprint the A$1.5 million Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap over Eagle Farm’s 1,400 metres on Saturday.

Trained by Mike Moroney, the daughter of Ocean Park was destined for the sale ring three weeks earlier with the mare’s managing owner Rupert Legh overruled and a Stradbroke start voted in.

“They said it’s not about the money, they just wanted to win another Group 1 together. I said whatever you want to do, I am happy to do it,” recalled Legh of discussions with Tofane’s owners.

With horses spread 12 and 13-wide in the closing stages, the dash to the line resembled a light horseman charge as no more than five lengths separated 17 of the 18 starters.

Tofane with Craig Williams in the saddle was in the centre of the track as she moved up to tackle the race favourite Vega One.

The pair went head-for-head until Tofane edged clear, winning by a half-length from Lope De Vega gelding with the Exceed And Excel horse Signore Fox a further neck away in third.

Very gallant

“I love the way Mike has spaced her runs. She is now a dual Group 1-winning mare,” said Williams. “She got a bit inconvenienced throughout, but late she was really strong and very gallant.

“I’ve got to thank her performance, she was the horse that wanted to win more than anyone for me to win my second Stradbroke.”

Bred by reared by Curraghmore Stud’s Gordon Cunningham in New Zealand, Tofane is out of the Galileo mare Baggy Green, a 2010 Inglis Easter yearling purchase by Dermot Farrington for $110,000 who was bought by Cunningham at the 2013 Inglis Australian Bloodstock Sale for $23,000.

With Mike Moroney unable to travel to Brisbane due to Covid restrictions out of Victoria, he indicated that Tofane would race on.

“We will probably go to the (Group 1 Tatts) Tiara, that was only her third run this campaign and we planned on the Tiara before this,” he said.

J.J. Atkins Stakes (Group 1)

“WE came here hoping to see a performance like that,” said co-trainer Adrian Bott of Converge’s three-length romp in the Group 1 J.J. Atkins for juveniles over 1,600 metres.

“We saw such a great run from him in the Sires, and we thought it was just a matter of holding him together and keep him up to the mark for one more run. He is putting it all together now.

“He is such a genuine horse. He is not the biggest in the stable, but he has the biggest heart. He is the most honest horse we have, and now he has a turn of foot to go with it, so he is dangerous. We made the decision to geld him early, and I think it has been the making of him.”

A homebred Frankel out of the Irish-bred Shamardal mare Conversely, Converge is unplaced just once now in seven starts and provided the training combination of Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott with their 11th Group1 win.

Trailing in was the Flying Artie colt Giannis and the Extreme Choice colt Tiger Of Malay, who had the better of Converge two weeks earlier in the Group 2 Sires’ Produce.

“We can go home and dream tonight about what could be possible for his three-year-old career,” added Bott. “The way he settles in his races he has certainly got the scope to improve over further so that certainly opens up a lot more options for him going forward.”