In-form trainer Mike Moroney will use Saturday’s Gr.1 Black Caviar Lightning (1000m) as a stepping stone for Tofane (NZ) (Ocean Park) as he targets the G1 Newmarket Handicap with rising sprinter.
The four-year-old will resume from a spell in Saturday’s A$750,000 feature race, with Moroney keen to give her more experience down the straight ahead of her first target race.
Moroney said the Lightning was the perfect race for Tofane to resume in.
“The main first target is going to be the Newmarket and just time-wise it (the Lightning) fits in,” Moroney said.
“She gets another look down the straight, she’s only had one run. We were tossing up between this one and the Oakleigh Plate and we just thought this one suited better.
“She’s good and fit for the 1000m, it’s just whether it’s going to be a bit sharp for her in Group One class.”
Tofane found a new level in the spring, winning Group Three races at Caulfield and Flemington before heading to the paddock.
“It should be interesting because it’s a small field (seven), so she won’t get as far off them. Whereas say in an Oakleigh Plate she might have got a long way off them in a big field,” Moroney said of his $18 hope, who will be ridden by Dwayne Dunn from barrier three.
“We are hopeful. We know it’s a bit of a task, but she’s a quality mare and you never know.”
Bred by Curraghmore’s Gordon Cunningham, Tofane purchased privately by Moroney and has since won four of her nine starts.
