Ipswich Cup 2016: Damian Browne poised to create slice of history if Maurus can lump 58kg to victory

DAMIAN Browne believes a lack of depth in the staying ranks is the reason Maurus can buck history and lump 58kg to success in Saturday’s $175,000 Ipswich Cup.

Nathan Exelby

2 min read

June 16, 2016 - 4:00PM

DAMIAN Browne believes a lack of depth in the staying ranks is the reason Maurus can buck history and lump 58kg to success in Saturday’s $175,000 Ipswich Cup.

Browne rarely ventures to Ipswich, having ridden there only twice in the past five years, but he was coaxed to head south on Saturday by Maurus’ trainer David Vandyke.

Last year the jockey went to Cup Day for the first time since 2012 and landed a winning treble, highlighted by the heavily weighted Smokin’ Joey in the Eye Liner.

While the Eye Liner has had winners salute with big imposts, the Cup has been a notorious graveyard for topweights.

Our Lukas (56kg in 2010) and Golden Rhapsody (56.5kg in 1981) are the highest weighted winners since the conversion to the metric scale in 1973.

If Maurus is to lump his 58kg, it will make him the highest weighted winner since Sharply carried 9.3 (58.5kg) in 1961.

Browne has had a close look at Saturday’s rivals and believes the race is tailor-made for Maurus to create a bit of history.

“The race has declined in depth over the years, like a lot of staying races and it’s a long way from the best Ipswich Cup field I have seen,” he said.

Jockey Damian Browne makes a rare visit to Ipswich on Saturday when he takes the ride on Maurus for trainer David Vandyke.

“I think that means it’s not going to be as hard for a higher weighted horse. The ones up the top deserve to be there because the race falls right away.”

Browne boasts an imposing record on fancied runners up in the weights. Since 2012 on all favourites with 58kg or more, he has struck at 42 per cent. It’s match practice, rather than weight, he fears on Saturday.

“My only worry is that he missed a run two weeks ago (in the washed out Eagle Farm Cup) and he now finds himself four weeks between runs,” he said.

“If they happen to get rain and it becomes a real tough staying slog, that might be the telling factor.

“Other than that, he looks the right horse for this race.”

This will be Browne’s first ride for Vandyke since the successful conditioner made the move to the Sunshine Coast.

“He has offered me a few rides, but it just hadn’t worked out up until now. He has some good quality horses in his stable and hopefully I can kick off the association on the right note,” Browne said.

The rider admitted it had been a disappointing carnival.

“It looked a bit skinny leading into it, with the southern trainers likely to dominate and that’s the way it panned out,” he said.

“And when I had what looked a decent ride on paper they didn’t fire.”