Emma Lee and David Browne have continued their strong start to the season, with Rhinoceros (NZ) (Vadamos) showing his affinity for dry tracks in a tough win at Mornington on Saturday.
The Browne’s relocated to Pakenham from Cranbourne prior to the season’s beginning, and the move has so far proved a fruitful one, with a 13% winning strike-rate and 41% of runners finding the placings.
While these winners have included exciting maidens such as Pondalowie (Deep Field) and Basilinna (NZ) (Staphanos), it was a more seasoned campaigner in Rhinoceros who showed his best on Grand Final Day.
Sent straight to the front by Jake Noonan, the five-year-old travelled comfortably in front of Oubitsa (Palentino) ($6) and Pungo (NZ) (So You Think) ($3.90), with those three forging a gap to the rest of the field.
As the backmarkers began to jostle, Rhinoceros continued to race well, prompting commentator Terry Bailey to point out the Good 3 surface and the horse’s ability to keep running on harder tracks.
And that was exactly how it unfolded down the straight, with Noonan’s mount finding plenty to stave off Oubitsa and Pungo, finishing a three-quarter length victor.
David Browne said it was always the plan to get rolling early, with his gelding backing up quickly from a run at Flemington just a week prior.
“It worked well for him today, firm track, he loves just getting out and running and doing his own thing,” he said.
“The Flemington run, you couldn’t really lead and win there, so Blake opted to take a sit … he’s gone around and run the right times and pulled up well.
“We thought we may as well back him up and on the firm track this looked a really nice race for him.”
Looking to the spring and beyond, Browne might take Rhinoceros back to the city and try to catch some more favourable leading conditions.
“He’s sort of a horse that if we place him right, then he’ll keep winning the right races. But where we go from here, we’re not sure.”
He discussed some of the differences between his experiences at Cranbourne and Pakenham, having found the slightly quieter training set-up beneficial.
“I think it’s just a change, you know, the change of environment,” he said.
“We’ve cut down the stable size; we’re not doing as many pre-trainers and just doing on our own ones.
“We’re really concentrating on that and it makes a difference.”
Browne also provided an update on Pondalowie, who caught the eye of many earlier this week with a dominant maiden victory at Bendigo on Wednesday.
“She’s pulled up well … we’re not too sure where we’ll go, we’ll make a decision in the next few days,” he said.
