I was absolutely delighted with the effort of Desert Jeuney who ran a blinder in the Toorak Handicap at Caulfield.
We had made a deliberate plan to keep this horse fresh and race him sparingly this Spring, keeping him to shorter trips and the Toorak was the race we targeted. Fortunately his owners supported this plan and we nearly pulled it off.
For the first time this prep the horse drew a single figure barrier which meant we could ride him the way we wanted and James Winks could not have ridden the horse any better.
He presented him at the top of the straight and Desert Jeuney tried his best, beaten less than a length behind Trust In A Gust and Speediness in a Group 1 race generally accepted as the toughest mile race in Victoria.
Very proud of the horse and the staff for the way the horse was turned out.
The plan for DJ now is the Mile race at Moonee Valley on Cox Plate day where we had success twice with Weasel Will.