Brisbane Cup victor to target Melbourne spring carnival
CHOCANTE became the second consecutive New Zealand-trained winner of the Group 2 Brisbane Cup on Saturday and it will now target the Melbourne spring carnival later this year.
The Stephen Marsh-trained stayer was dominant in the finish, winning by over three lengths, despite coming into the race having run poorly on a rain-affected track at Eagle Farm.
Chocante will now spell and will be returned with the Melbourne spring carnival in mind, with Marsh giving it a chance to prove itself on the big stage.
“We’ll give him every chance to prove that he’s up to that level, and if he isn’t right up to the very best, there’s a few tiers down that you can still run in for good money,” Marsh said.
“We’ll aim high and see where we get to.”
Jockey Jim Byrne had a bumper day at Doomben and he was keen after the defeat at Eagle Farm that Chocante would rebound nicely.
“I told them after he ran at Eagle Farm not to worry because he didn’t handle that track at all,” Byrne said.
“Funnily enough even though the track today was good I was a bit worried that it might be a bit jarry for him, but he let down really quickly when I went for him.”
@marshracing trained #Chocante produced an all the way win at @DoombenRacing to score the G2 Brisbane Cup #kiwisinOZ https://t.co/yY7YDTPXTm pic.twitter.com/1omoqS5YjG
— NZ Racing News (@nzracingnews) June 10, 2017
Marsh didn’t want to make a big deal about the conditions at Eagle Farm, but admitted he would have changed tack if the decision to move away from the troubled track wasn’t made.
“I don’t want to be one to go on about the track, but we were going to up stumps and go to the Ipswich Cup if they didn’t change venues,” Marsh said.
“We were rapt when they moved it to Doomben. We’ve been ultra happy with him all the way through and I’m delighted he’s proved it today.”