Photo: Bruno Cannatelli
A perfect gift continues to keep on giving for expatriate Kiwi horsewoman Emma-Lee Browne who is now in the luxurious position of having a guaranteed Gr.1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) runner with a homebred.
Pakenham-based Browne and husband and training partner David produced Basilinna (Staphanos) to triumph in the Listed Andrew Ramsden (2800m) at Flemington to earn a golden ticket into the spring staying feature.
Basilinna is a daughter of the late Shinko King mare So Royal, who was purchased by David as a present for his wife.
“It was just after we had lost our good jumper Monarch Chimes and David saw the mare on a gavelhouse auction and bought her for $500 to make me feel better,” Emma-Lee Browne said.
Also by Shinko King, Monarch Chimes won three on the flat for the couple and four over the smaller fences, including the Hawke’s Bay Hurdle (3100m) and was fourth in the Great Northern (4190m).
He was also successful over the big fences in Australia and placed in the Grand National Steeples (4500m), Crisp Steeples (3900m) and Brierly Steeples (3450m).
“It was a lovely gesture by David to buy the mare and we put her to Staphanos, and Wentwood Grange foaled her down,” Browne said.
“The mother was a big, strong mare and she (Basilinna) was also a big girl as a yearling and we thought about sending her to the sales, but she was still growing so we kept her when we moved over here.
“At that stage, we had no owners for her and we had an open day and nearly all our existing owners came in with us and they’ve had a fantastic ride.”
As a spring three-year-old, Basilinna finished third in the Gr.1 VRC Oaks (2500m) after also running third in the Gr.3 Ethereal Stakes (2000m) and was subsequently runner-up in the Gr.2 Kewney Stakes (1600m).
“She really put us out there and we had a few little issues with her as a spring four-year-old,” Browne said.
Following a break, she was a first-up winner at The Valley and ran second in both the Country Oaks (2100m) and Listed Port Adelaide Cup (2500m) before claiming top honours in the Andrew Ramsden.
“We’ve got the luxury now of knowing she’s in the Cup and we can make a plan to get her there in the best possible order, we’re obviously really looking forward to that,” Browne said.
They are also closely following the career of Basilinna’s younger sister Shangri La Impact, who was sold through Westbury Stud’s draft for A$60,000 at the 2023 Magic Millions National Yearling Sale.
Trained by Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, she placed in her first two starts before successfully stepping up at a middle distance at Hawkesbury last week.
