Twelve months after winning a Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m) golden ticket which she was ultimately unable to cash in due to injury, Basilinna (Staphanos) is out for redemption at Flemington this Saturday when the mare defends her crown in the Andrew Ramsden Stakes (Listed, 2800m).
Bone chips detected in Basilinna’s near fore fetlock on the eve of the 2025 Spring Carnival crushed the hopes of her connections after she had earned entry to Australia’s most iconic race with a gallant staying performance in the Andrew Ramsden, but co-trainer Emma-Lee Browne is praying the racing gods are prepared to grant her homebred a second chance.
The mare’s late mother So Royal (Shinko King) was purchased as a present for Browne by her husband and training partner David, and that $500 outlay has reaped the richest of rewards with Basilinna collecting three wins and four stakes placings and the Brownes selling her younger sister, last-start city winner Shangri La Impact, for $60,000 at the 2023 Magic Millions Gold Coast National Yearling Sale.
Unlike racehorses, dreams are free and after Basilinna showed promising glimpses of her old form with a fast-finishing sixth in unsuitably attritional conditions in the Warrnambool Cup (Listed, 2350m), the priceless prospect of gaining another shot at the Melbourne Cup feels within tantalising reach for her large ownership group.
“On paper her recent form doesn’t look as good as it did this time last year, but her higher rating has meant that we’ve had to run her in much harder races so I think she’s probably going just as well as she was heading into the Andrew Ramsden
“On paper her recent form doesn’t look as good as it did this time last year, but her higher rating has meant that we’ve had to run her in much harder races so I think she’s probably going just as well as she was heading into the Andrew Ramsden,” Emma-Lee Browne told ANZ News.
“She’s crying out for the rise in distance now and we think we’ve got her fitness levels right where they need to be for Saturday. She’s got a great constitution, that’s probably her biggest asset so even though she had quite a tough run from a wide draw on a gluey track at Warrnambool, she bounced through it really well. She’s a big mare so it took a while to get her back up to full fitness after she had all that time off, but we’re there now and I think she’s ready to run another big race on Saturday.
“It was obviously really exciting for us and the ownership group to win the Melbourne Cup ticket last year, it was definitely the highlight of our career so it was a real shame that we weren’t able to use it. It was always the plan to give her a long break and bring her back in the autumn with a view to targeting this race again, so hopefully the plan can come off on Saturday.”
With Basilinna only likely to remain in training for one more season, the breeding barn beckons in the near future – not least as Browne is convinced her sire Staphanos (Deep Impact) will soon be making his presence felt on this side of the Tasman Sea.
To date, Staphanos’ better performers have all been fillies and mares, with his daughter Pignan – who is part-owned by legendary New Zealand rugby full-back Christian Cullen – putting the Novara Park resident’s name up in lights when she won the Sires’ Produce Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) in 2023 as a juvenile.
His current pin-up girl – other than Basilinna – is Special Sakura, who recently chased home Roger James and Robert Wellwood’s smart mare She’s A Dealer (Ace High) in the NZ Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m), having previously broken through at Listed level in the Fulton Family Stakes (1500m).
Browne freely admits she initially only turned to Staphanos as a cut-price option for So Royal because she couldn’t afford the service fee commanded by another son of Deep Impact (Sunday Silence), Rich Hill Stud’s proven performer Satono Aladdin. But she has since become an avid admirer of his progeny, and has happily returned to the well on numerous occasions.
“I really like Staphanos as a stallion, he’s going great guns and I do think you’re going to start seeing him have a bigger impact over here in Australia,” said Browne, who also revealed that stakes-winning sprinter McGaw (I Am Immortal) had returned to the stables at the start of the week.
“We just sold his filly [stakes-placed Just Kick] for a good price [$360,000] at the Chairman’s Sale, and we’ve got some more of his progeny that we have a decent opinion of. We bought a lovely Staphanos filly for under $200,000 from Lime Country at the Easter Sale, so with Basilinna likely to be sold as a breeding proposition next year, we’re hoping she can step up and take her place.
“He usually produces strong staying types so you do have to be quite patient with his progeny, but if you’re prepared to bide your time you’re generally going to get the rewards. Basilinna’s younger sister is building a very good record, she recently won a race in town over 1800 metres on ANZAC Day so she’s been a good buy for her owners and obviously our mare has taken her connections on a great ride.
“We actually had her entered for the Chairman’s Sale last year, because her form has started to taper off a little bit towards the end of her previous prep. But then she came back in great order in the autumn last year, so we decided to pull her out of the sale. I’m very glad we did because we’ve had a lot of fun with her since then, and hopefully there’s more to come – starting on Saturday.”




















