2022 All-Star Mile: Will Elephant get your vote? 28 January 22 - Voting Now Open!

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Elephant trampling towards All-Star Mile

Elephant made a big impression during his maiden Australian campaign, which included a first-up win at Caulfield in August. Picture: Racing Photos via Getty Images.

 

By Brad Waters
05:03pm • 10 January 2022

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Popular Kiwi galloper Elephant will ramp up his All-Star Mile campaign with a trial against another top NZ performer on Wednesday.

The oddly-named Elephant endeared himself to Melbourne punters with a solid spring preparation that brought a Group 3 win in the Sandown Stakes and a first-up win at Caulfield.

Co-trainer Emma Lee Browne said returning to Melbourne for the autumn was the reason Elephant headed home after a solid third in the Group 2 Crystal Mile at The Valley in October.

“We could have probably stayed but we always wanted to come back in the autumn,” Browne, who trains Elephant in partnership with her husband David, said.

“We thought if we gave him a break after the Moonee Valley run, we’ll be able to get back there.”

Browne said Elephant rapidly matured during his stay in Melbourne.

She said Elephant has shown the effects of the trip since returning to the Brownes’ Cambridge stables.

“He looks fantastic. He’s put on weight and looks a lot stronger since he got home from Melbourne,” Browne said.

“He’s done really well so we’re hoping he can do better again.

“We’ve definitely noticed with things he’s doing in the stable that he’s grown up a lot from what he was before he went to Melbourne.”

The Brownes will have a chance to see how Elephant is progressing in a trial at Te Rapa on Wednesday.

Multiple Australian Group 1 winner Probabeel will be one of Elephant’s rivals in the strong heat.

New Zealand trainers David and Emma-Lee Browne have entered Group 3 winner Elephant for the $5m All-Star Mile. Picture: Racing Photos via Getty Images.

 

“He’s trialling on Wednesday before the races so he’s going there not looking to win but to have a good gallop and get the adrenalin back up on a race day,” Browne said.

“There’s a few smart ones going around in the trials because they restricted them to horses that have won or run placings in Group races.”

The trial will play a part in the trainers deciding whether Elephant would have his first-up run in Melbourne, Sydney, or New Zealand in mid-February, about a month before the All-Star Mile at Flemington on March 19.

Elephant’s standing in the All-Star Mile voting at that point will also be a factor.

“We’ll have a go at it (the All-Star Mile) but it’s going to be a bit tricky to get the votes and everything, but we’ll give it a crack,” Browne said.

“If we got into the All-Star Mile, then that would be the goal for the autumn but if it was looking like we’re not going to get the votes, then there’s so many other races for him.

“He’s got a few options in Sydney as well so it’s a nice position we’re in where we can take our time and see where we want to go.”

Jockey Damian Lane will have first refusal of the ride on Elephant during the autumn.

 

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Verry Elleegant heads the list of 77 Entries

Melbourne Cup winner Verry Elleegant and emerging star I’m Thunderstruck are two of 77 entries for the $5m All-Star Mile at Flemington.

Trainers have nominated 20 Group 1 winners for this year’s All-Star Mile while 22 entries have won more than $1m in prizemoney.

Mugatoo won last year’s All-Star Mile at The Valley, but the Kris Lees-trained import was not among the nominations for the March 19 event as he regains race fitness after a long-term injury.

Verry Elleegant is one of 15 entries from the all-powerful Chris Waller stable.

Waller’s entry list includes Group 1 winners Kolding and Hungry Heart as well as the exciting filly Espiona, a crushing winner at Flemington on VRC Oaks Day in the spring.

Victoria Derby winner Hitotsu and in-form US mare Lighthouse are two of five Ciaron Maher and David Eustace-trained entries along with the 2020 Cox Plate runner-up Armory.

Armory finished second to Maher and Eustace’s winner, the late Sir Dragonet, when trained by Irish master Aidan O’Brien.

Armory travelled to Australia to compete during the spring carnival but did not race before connections decided to leave the stallion in Maher and Eustace’s care.

The Mick Price and Michael Kent Jr-trained Golden Eagle winner I'm Thunderstruck will chase another big payday in the $5m All-Star Mile at Flemington. Picture: Racing Photos via Getty Images.

 

Annabel Neasham has entered Underwood and Mackinnon Stakes winner Zaaki as well as Top Ranked, who finished third in the $1m The Hunter at his only Australian run.

Group 1-winning duo Beau Rossa and Behemoth headline the South Australian challenge.

Multiple Group 1 winner Probabeel and Group 3 winner Elephant are two of five entries from New Zealand.

Trainers have another week to make any late entries for the race before public voting to select 10 All-Star Mile runners runs from January 24 until February 13.

The top 10 All-Star Mile votegetters will be announced on February 19.

Racing Victoria will announce five wildcards, which could include the winners of the Futurity and Blamey Stakes, on or before March 8.

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2022-01-10-all-star-mile-nominations.pdf

[nomates]

If kids can vote Elephant is a shoe in , what kid is not going to vote for a horse called Elephant .

[Huey]

3 hours ago, nomates said:

If kids can vote Elephant is a shoe in , what kid is not going to vote for a horse called Elephant .

So true, this kid is going to vote for him.

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Seventy-eight gallopers set to chase All-Star Mile glory after first nominations close

A total of eligible 78 horses, including reigning Lexus Melbourne Cup (3200m) heroine Verry Elleegant, will chase All-Star Mile glory after nominations for the world’s richest mile race officially closed at 12pm (AEDT) on Monday (17 January).

The nominations list for the fourth edition of The All-Star Mile, which returns to its inaugural home at Flemington on Saturday, 19 March, includes 23 horses with more than $1 million in the bank, 20 Group 1 winners and 17 three-year-olds. 

With Racing Victoria (RV) again donating every $500 nomination fee to The All-Star Mile’s official charity, which raises vital funds for the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne, the 77 initial nominations contributed $38,500 to the Good Friday Appeal. That figure was subsequently taken to $41,000 when Sydney trainer Bjorn Baker nominated his Stakes-winning mare She’s Ideel as a late entry, incurring a $2,500 fee. 

Chris Waller has nominated a total of 15 gallopers as Australia’s leading trainer bids to add The All-Star Mile trophy to his glittering resumé, with Star of the Seas (sixth last year) his highest finisher so far across the first three editions of Australia’s only fan-voted race.

His 2022 entries are headlined by Verry Elleegant, who claimed her 10^th Group 1 win in ‘the race that stops a nation’ last November and could be set for a return to the scene of her greatest triumph for the $5 million feature of Victoria’s autumn racing carnival. With Annabel Neasham’s three-time Group 1 winner Zaaki challenging Verry Elleegant for the title of Australia’s pre-eminent middle-distance horse, two of the stars of the spring could be set for a mouth-watering clash this autumn.   

Waller’s artillery also includes Espiona, who created a huge impression when winning the Listed Off the Track Desirable Stakes (1400m) on Kennedy Oaks Day at Flemington by a widening six lengths at only her second start; as well as multiple Group 1 champions Hungry Heart and Kolding, who ran in the 2020 edition of The All-Star Mile.

The powerful Godolphin operation is also chasing its first success in The All-Star Mile, having filled the minor placings with Hartnell (second) and Alizee (third) in 2019; but 2022 could see the ‘Blue Army’ break the drought as head trainer James Cummings has nominated Group 1 stars Colette and Cascadian for the showpiece event.

Having dominated the Victorian training ranks last season, the partnership of Ciaron Maher and David Eustace are again leading the way this campaign and the pair are launching a serious assault on The All-Star Mile after nominating five gallopers from their all-conquering stable.

They include last year’s brilliant Penfolds Victoria Derby (2500m) winner Hitotsu; Lighthouse, who has won all four races since arriving from the United States; and her fellow import Armory, who finished runner-up in the 2020 Ladbrokes Cox Plate (2040m) when he was trained by Aidan O’Brien.

Interstate and Kiwi representation has been one of the main features of The All-Star Mile since its inception in 2019, with horses trained outside Victoria winning all three previous editions, and this year is no exception with some high-profile nominations received from across Australia and New Zealand.

The reigning New Zealand Horse of the Year, Jamie Richards’ magnificent mare Probabeel, is one of five Kiwi entrants and will hope to crown her final racing campaign with victory in The All-Star Mile.

Probabeel finished down the field in last year’s All-Star Mile, with persistent rain and a heavy track conspiring against her, but the four-time Group 1 winner is certain to attract plenty of votes from across the Tasman Sea and the same applies to her compatriot Elephant, whose unusual name and impressive race record of six wins from nine career starts are sure to catch the eye of New Zealand voters.

South Australia is again very well represented with seven nominees including last year’s minor placegetter Behemoth (trained by David Jolly) and his fellow competitor Regalo Di Gaetano (Richard and Chantelle Jolly), who were later joined in the entry list by a trio of gallopers prepared by Will Clarken: Stakes winner Beau Rossa, talented import Ironclad and stablemate Second Slip.      

The Harrovian (Toby and Trent Edmonds), who finished a gallant fifth behind Mugatoo in the 2021 All-Star Mile, will hope to fly the flag for Queensland along with Axe, who is trained by up-and-coming Gold Coast horseman Michael Costa.

Shout The Bar received a wildcard to compete in last year’s All-Star Mile and the consistent mare has again been nominated by the first lady of Australian racing, Gai Waterhouse, and her training partner, Adrian Bott. The pair have also entered Group 1 winner Converge and his stablemates Entente, Vangelic, Silent Impact and Riodini.

Of the 33 nominations received from New South Wales stables, other notable entries include Group 1 winner Captivant, trained by the father and son team of Peter and Paul Snowden; Maximal, John O’Shea’s regally-bred British import whose brother Frankel was arguably the world’s best racehorse before he was retired with an unblemished record; and Icebath, Brad Widdup’s stable star who has earned more than $3.7 million in prizemoney. 

Local trainers appear primed to end Victoria’s drought in The All-Star Mile, with 30 horses entered from stables across the state. Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr would appear to hold a strong hand with Group 1 hero I’m Thunderstruck leading their charge; whilst Mike Moroney’s magnificent mare Tofane will be hoping to end her final campaign on a high before she is retired to the breeding barn.

In addition, Stakes winners Sierra Sue and Forgot You – who both race in the colours of leviathan owner Ozzie Kheir – are in contention to represent Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young’s in-form stable; Ben Hayes and his brother JD are pinning their hopes on Mr Brightside, a winner of six of his nine races; Danny O’Brien, who came so close to claiming last year’s race with Russian Camelot, has an interesting contender in recent arrival Callsign Mav; and emerging Warrnambool trainer Maddie Raymond has two eye-catching contenders in Turaath, a winner of four successive races including the Group 2 Let’s Elope Stakes (1400m), and her fellow British import Earlswood.

Greg Carpenter, RV’s Executive General Manager – Racing, welcomed the strength and depth of the All-Star Mile nominations. 

“We are delighted with the quality and variety of nominations received for The 2022 All-Star Mile, which have continued the theme we have seen since we started this journey back in 2019,” he said.

“As well as topliners such as Zaaki and Verry Elleegant, undoubtedly two of Australia’s very best horses, it is intriguing to see up-and-comers such as Espiona, Captivant, Hitotsu and Forgot You all nominated as well as some extremely talented imports like Maximal, Lighthouse and Armory.

“We are excited to welcome back some previous runners in Behemoth, The Harrovian, Lunar Fox, Streets Of Avalon, Regalo Di Gaetano and Shout The Bar, who all lined up in last year’s All-Star Mile; and it would be very fitting if either Tofane or Probabeel were able to sign off their final campaigns with victory in the world’s richest mile race.

“I would like to thank all owners and trainers who have embraced the race so far, and in the process helped raise more than $40,000 for our official charity, the Good Friday Appeal. I believe The All-Star Mile is more than just a horse race, and the charity component is certainly an important aspect of its broader appeal.”  

For the full list of 2022 All-Star Mile nominations, click here

 

To be eligible to be nominated, a horse must have met the following minimum performance criteria between 1 February, 2021 and the close of nominations on 10, January 2022 (or between 1 February, 2021 and 17 January, 2022 if a late entry): placed first, second or third in a Group or Listed race; OR have earned $20,000 or more placing first, second or third in a flat race.
In addition, a three-year-old requires a minimum Victorian rating of 70 at the close of nominations to be eligible to run. Four-year-olds and upwards require a minimum Victorian rating of 80 at the close of nominations to be eligible to run.

2022-01-10-all-star-mile-nominations (1).pdf

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Voting now open.

https://www.allstarmile.com.au/

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New Zealand trainers Emma-lee and David Browne say they’re thrilled the majority of their owners have thrown their support behind the stable’s imminent move to Australia.

The Brownes have acquired 40 boxes at Cranbourne and the first of their horses are set to arrive across the Tasman in the next few months including stable stars Elephant and Rhinoceros who are already comfortable with Victorian racing having racked up the winners last spring.

“We’ve been really fortunate that 95% of our owners have been so keen to race in Australia,” said Emma-lee.

“They talk about it all the time, they wanted to be part of the Spring campaign we had so we’ve got an amazing client base that have been so supportive in what we’re wanting to do.

“A lot of the horses are coming over, not all in one go, I’m going to stay through to April here in New Zealand and send them over as they’re ready here or come out of spelling and things like that with a full move in April.

“I’m really looking forward to moving over and being part of Victorian racing, it will be tough but we’re really looking forward to the challenge.”

Many in the stable are already accustomed to the Cranbourne training facility with the Brownes having previously stayed with good friends co-trainers Natalie Young and Trent Busutin when travelling horses to compete in Victoria since the latter made a similar move themselves five years ago.

“We’d always had a thought about it and it had been something that we’d discussed for quite a few years, she said.

“It’s been really good having someone that’s done the move before and giving us things to think about and helpful tips and obviously with them having the children as well it’s been good to talk to them about the family side of stuff too.”

Browne is hoping the stable can strike this Autumn with Elephant leading the charge aimed up at the $5million All-Star Mile.

The interestingly-named son of Shocking is already popular with Australian punters having won two of his five starts in Victoria last spring including the Group 3 Sandown Stakes (1500m).

The popular Kiwi has been well supported in early voting for the All-Star Mile, currently placed eighth overall on 2251 votes with the Brownes campaigning strongly to get him a start in the world’s richest mile race.

“We’re trying pretty hard. It’s pretty ambitious but we were pretty ambitious when we came in the spring as well so we tend to do that we try to aim high and if that doesn’t work we’ve got a few options up our sleeve.

“We’ve tried really hard, we’ve had great support from New Zealand, a lot of our friends and our family.”

The five-year-old returned to New Zealand after finishing third in October’s Group 2 Crystal Mile and Browne assures he’s strengthened up over the summer break.

“I think he’s grown up a lot, we brought him over a baby pretty much he was pretty lightly-raced, he’d never travelled off the farm.

“This time around he’s a much more mature racehorse, he’s stronger, he’s probably also mentally stronger.”

Don’t miss your chance to vote for Elephant or another of your favourite runners in the 2022 Seppelt Wines All-Star Mile – VOTE NOW

 

[holy ravioli]

I must say I'm Thunderstruck looks special.

Won in Sydney and usually needs a bit of luck with his racing pattern,but explosive when set alight.

Elephant is honest and puts himself in the race,should be plenty in..store.

[nomates]

7 minutes ago, holy ravioli said:

I must say I'm Thunderstruck looks special.

Won in Sydney and usually needs a bit of luck with his racing pattern,but explosive when set alight.

Elephant is honest and puts himself in the race,should be plenty in..store.

If he improves from his last prep as you would express he could well be the next super star going on his performances in his last couple of starts , lots of upside .