Darren Weir hit by the handicappers ahead of Toorak Handicap

Two of leading trainer Darren Weir’s best prospects will be top weights in the group 1 Toorak Handicap (1600m) at Caulfield on Saturday.

Dynamic duo Lucky Hussler and Stratum Star are the top weighted horses in the Toorak Handicap after the former’s successful Autumn campaign, and the latter’s barnstorming run and victory at the same track a fortnight ago.

Weir won the race last year with gun sprinter Trust in a Gust and will be hoping to go back-to-back and secure the $400,000 prize money for a second year in a row.

Lucky Hussler was the winner of the William Reid Stakes at Moonee Valley earlier in the year, and will carry 58kg in Saturday’s group 1 race.

Stratum Star will carry 57kg, one less than when he stormed home with Craig Williams onboard a fortnight ago, to win the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes.

Trust in a Gust did the Rupert Clarke Toorak Handicap double in 2014, and Weir will be optimistic Stratum Star can replicate the feat.

Williams will again be guiding Stratum Star and the four year old could not be in better hands. The in-form hoop has a remarkable record in the Toorak Handicap with five wins from 13 starts, second only to the suspended Damien Oliver, who has six victories in the race which was first run in 1983.

While the handicappers have slugged the Weir pair with hefty weights, one of Robert Heathcote’s runners in the race Hopfgarten, who was three lengths back in the Rupert Clarke Stakes has been weighted nicely and is one to watch.

Hopfgarten, who will carry 54kg, finished 12th two weeks ago behind Stratum Star, but was unlucky in a tightly contested finish.

“There’s no doubting that second-up over a mile is a challenge but he’s got a good second-up record and you can’t but like his first-up run at Caulfield even though he was unlucky,” Heathcote said.

“You never know with a horse like Hopfgarten whether or not he is a group one horse but I’ve always had a nice opinion of him and he’s still a progressive horse.”

Heathcote believes the form displayed two weeks ago at Caulfield bodes well for success in the Toorak Handicap.

“(The) run in the Rupert Clarke did show me that he’s more than capable of being competitive,” he said.

The 20 runners still in contention for the group 1 Toorak Handicap is set to be cut back to 18 on Wednesday.

2015 Toorak Handicap runners

1. Abidewithme
2. Akavoroun
3. Amicus
4. Bull Point
5. Disposition
6. Flamingo Star (Ger)
7. Foreign Prince (Nz)
8. Hi World
9. Hopfgarten
10. Jacquinot Bay
11. Kenjorwood
12. Leebaz (Nz)
13. Lucky Hussler
14. Moonovermanhattan
15. Ninth Legion
16. Noble Protector
17. Puccini (Nz)
18. Rhythm To Spare (Nz)
19. Stratum Star
20. Strawberry Boy

Click here for all the best bookie bonuses and freebets on offer for Saturday’s huge day of group 1 thorughbred racing at Caulfield.

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