TOFANE FIRST-UP IN C. F. ORR

New Zealand-bred mare Tofane will be vying to add to her burgeoning elite-level record when she lines up in the Gr.1 C.F. Orr Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on Saturday.

The winner of the Gr.1 All Aged Stakes (1400m) at Randwick in 2020, the daughter of Ocean Park had a new lease on life last year, adding wins in the Gr.1 Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) and Gr.1 Tattersall’s Tiara (1400m) to her resume.

She continued her hot form in the spring, placing in the Gr.1 Memsie Stakes (1400m) fresh-up before running fourth in the Gr.1 Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m) and second in the Gr.1 Toorak Handicap (1600m).

Trainer Michael Moroney has set the six-year-old mare another Group One 1400m assignment first-up and he has been pleased with her two jump outs in the lead-up to the weekend.

“We are as happy as we can be. I got her ready for last autumn with three jump outs off a short break to go 1400m. I might have overdone it a bit last time.” Moroney told SENTrack.

“This time in she has had two jump outs coming off a slightly longer break. It is new ground for me but she looks bright and well and her jump outs have been par for the course with her.

“She was fresh and went terrific in her first jump out and was a little bit more dour in her second one. That is her, so she is doing things as per normal.”

Tofane was bred by Curraghmore’s Gordon Cunningham, who entrusted her to the care of Ballymore Stables’ Matamata barn, headed by Pam Gerard, for whom she won her 820m trial at Te Teko as a three-year-old.

She was subsequently sold to Australian-based stable clients, including prominent owner Rupert Legh, and transferred to Moroney’s Flemington barn where she has won seven races, three at elite-level, and more than A$2.9 million in prize money.