TofaneĀ willĀ needĀ to prove herself the equal of More Joyous to win theĀ Toorak Handicap at Caulfield.
The Mike Moroney-trained daughter of Ocean ParkĀ is burdened with topweight of 58kg in Saturday’s 1600m handicap, the sameĀ weight More Joyous lumped to a narrow victory in the 2010 edition.
LikeĀ Tofane, More Joyous was aĀ multipleĀ Group 1 winnerĀ prior to winning the Toorak having taken out the Flight Stakes in 2009 and the George Main Stakes as her lead-up to theĀ Toorak.
Both of those Group 1Ā winsĀ were registeredĀ over 1600m, the same distance as the Toorak, at Randwick.
On theĀ otherhand,Ā TofaneĀ has won three Group 1 races, all at 1400m.
The first came in the 2020 All-Aged Stakes at Randwick before she won the Stradbroke Handicap and then the Tatt’s Tiara, both at Eagle Farm, this year.
MoroneyĀ isĀ convincedĀ TofaneĀ willĀ handle 1600m and had her first start at theĀ trip in the Group 1Ā MakybeĀ Diva Stakes at Flemington September 11, finishingĀ fourth, just over length from the winner Incentivise withĀ Mo’ungaĀ and Sir Dragonet just in front of her.
“She only ran a length off those good horses at her last run and was only half-a-length off a Cox Plate winner, so it was a pretty good effort,” Moroney said.
It will be four weeks between runs forĀ Tofane, but Moroney gave her an 800m jump-out at Flemington on September 23 to keep her up to the mark.
“She trialledĀ really well, she looks great and we’re really happy with her,” Moroney said.
“It will four weeksĀ between runs, butĀ if she had a run every two it would have been fourĀ runs in six weeks, so we thought we’d give her a little bit of a breather.
“Running in theĀ ToorakĀ will give usĀ a lineĀ onĀ whether we goĀ into theĀ (Group 1)Ā Empire RoseĀ (at Flemington)Ā or whether we go to The Invitation over 1400 metres at Randwick.”
The final fieldĀ for the Toorak HandicapĀ will be declared on Wednesday.
