Emma-Lee Browne intends to set her sights a bit lower with her smart stayer Basilinna (NZ) (Staphanos) as she plots out a spring program designed to avoid the bigger races with the rising four-year-old mare.
As the Pakenham-based trainer pointed out, Basilinna has spent virtually all of her career running at the higher levels.
“She’s only won one race. She’s done her time in the deep end,” Browne said of a horse who followed a maiden win at her second start at Cranbourne last September with her next seven runs comprising two Group One races, three at Group Two level and two Group Threes.
Basilinna has proven adept at in Group class, having finished third last spring in the Gr.1 VRC Oaks and Gr.3 Ethereal Stakes.
Basilinna’s autumn campaign consisted of four starts, with her best effort a second placing behind Autumn Angel (The Autumn Sun) in the G2 Kewney Stakes at Flemington, while she finished sixth in the ATC Oaks at her most recent start, also behind Autumn Angel.
“We’re pretty excited about her and what we can do but we will be taking it easy. There are a lot of nice fillies and mares races in the spring, which we think we will target,” she said.
Browne said a race such as the Matriarch Stakes at Flemington on the final day of the Melbourne Cup Carnival could be a target.
Browne, who trains in partnership with her husband David, said Basilinna has done her first piece of fast work at Cranbourne and they were really pleased with it.
