TOORAK HANDICAP (GROUP 1)

DARREN Weir was celebrating a Group 1 double after the Japanese import Tosen Stardom came from the back of the field to take out the Toorak Handicap over 1,600 metres.

“It’s such a relief because this horse has everything it takes to be one of the great stallions. He’s got the pedigree, the ability and now he’s got his Group 1,” said Weir of the Deep Impact seven-year-old.

Second, a length away was the Encosta De Lago gelding Sovereign Nation, with the Fastnet Rock gelding Petrology third. Pressed on whether Tosen Stardom could take on Winx, Weir was circumspect.

“I’m not so sure about that but it’s either the Cox Plate or the Cantala (Victoria Derby Day) next for this horse,” he said.

CAULFIELD STAKES

(GROUP 1)

THE first leg of Weir’s double was provided by the French-bred Gailo Chop, who was also completing a Group 1 double for Terry Henderson’s OTI racing, who scored earlier on the card in the Thousand Guineas with Aloisia. A winner of the 2015 Mackinnon Stakes, having run eighth in the Cox Plate when trained by Antoine de Watrigant, Gailo Chop was off the scene for 18 months with an injured tendon before his return in August.

Leading all the way, Darren Weir’s six-year-old was able to stack the field up in the middle stages before sprinting home the final 600 metres to land the win by a neck over Johannes Vermeer, with a further two and a half lengths to Jon Snow.

“He has got fitter and stepped up in distance and it just looked like a race today that if he could get to the front he would be able to control it,” said Weir.

“He got some cheap sectionals down the back and then gave a good kick.

“He might not have wanted it to be much further but the winning post is there for a reason. He’ll go to the Cox Plate for sure.”