Bifrost wins Australian debut

An Australian campaign is already paying dividends for Cambridge trainers David and Emma-Lee Browne.

Elephant made an immediate impact winning at Caulfield on Saturday, three days after arriving in Victoria, while stablemate Rhinoceros finished a credible fourth at Cranbourne the following day.

On Tuesday Bifrost did his bit to boost the stable’s earnings, winning his 1200m maiden contest at Pakenham on the synthetic track.

Sent out as one of the favoured runners, Bifrost raced keenly before letting down in the straight to beat race favourite Holt with David Browne saying the son of Turn Me Loose had plenty of improvement in him.

“It was good to get the win,” Browne said. “He was a little bit keen but I think he will settle now he has had the run and get better again.

“The trip over has given him a boost and he is probably a lot stronger than when he ran in the summer as well.

“He has matured into a pretty nice three-year-old so I am happy with the result.”

Jockey Zac Spain was similarly impressed with Bifrost’s winning performance and noted he will only get better with raceday experience under his belt.

“He just wanted to over do it a touch with the blinkers on,” Spain said. “It took me 300m to get him back underneath me. Once he travelled he travelled pretty well.

“To his credit, horses that pull that hard early don’t tend to finish off but I knew I had the favourite covered at the furlong and I just had to be patient.

“Once I let him go he really let down well.

“He is a nice horse going forward and he still has a lot to learn. I think once he learns to settle he is going to be a really nice horse.”

Browne is thrilled with his team’s performance in the early stages of their campaign, with handy stayer Border Leicester also likely to make the trip across the Tasman.

By Windsor Park Stud stallion Turn Me Loose, Bifrost is the third individual winner from the first crop of the emerging young sire, who has already been represented by Listed winner Turn The Ace and stakes-placed Verbek.

Sandown starting point for spring hopeful

Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young hold New Zealand-bred mare Impecunious in high-regard and are looking forward to the four-year-old mare’s resumption at Sandown over 1300m on Wednesday.

A maiden winner at Riccarton for Michael and Matthew Pitman, Impecunious scored at her first start for the Busuttin-Young camp before a luckless fourth placing in the Gr.2 Armanasco Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield in February. She then ventured to Sydney, where she finished third in the Gr.2 Phar Lap Stakes (1500m) and the Gr.1 Vinery Stud Stakes (2000m). 

"She trialled nicely last Monday week and she has ticked over nicely from that," Young said. 

"It's a nice place to kick her off and get her campaign under way. 

"We've got her nominated for all the good races (Caulfield Cup, Cox Plate, Melbourne Cup) and we want to get her out in trip a bit later on but she's only won over 1200m for us so far." 

Young said Impecunious would be ridden quietly on Wednesday by Luke Currie as when pressed forward previously she does not finish her races off.