The last time Damian Browne went to the Ipswich Cup meeting he got lost on the way but eventually went home with a winning treble.
Brown, who lives at Caloundra, gets annoyed if the one traffic light on the one kilometre trip from his house to the Sunshine Coast course is red let alone a 240km return trip to Ipswich.
But Browne was the star of last year’s Ipswich meeting with a treble on Wicked Intent, Rock Royalty and Eye Liner Stakes winner Smokin Joey.
It had been three years between visits to Ipswich for Browne and he admitted he got lost on the way.
Browne has a 30 per cent winning strike rate on all tracks in the past 12 months but has not been back to Ipswich since Cup day last year.
“I usually like just riding in Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast but it was good to come to Ipswich on a big day and ride a treble last year,” Browner said.
“I have a strong book of rides and I might get a winner again.”
Browne will ride Maurus (Ipswich Cup), Ninth Legion (Eye Liner stakes), Artabi (Provincial Cup) and Outraged (Ipswich Plate.)
Maurus is the shortest priced of Browne’s rides and is a dominant favourite in the Ipswich Cup.
His trainer David Vandyke has recently moved to the Sunshine Coast, taking many of his horses from Sydney including Maurus, a Doomben winner in April and fifth in the Group One Doomben Cup.
“It was a good run in the Doomben Cup because he had to make a long run and he was still there in the final stages,” Vandyke said.
Maurus and Sir John Hawkwood are raced by Paul Fudge’s Waratah Thoroughbreds who are among Vandyke’s major backers in his move to Queensland.
