A Pakenham Cup win would ensure a party to remember for Emma-Lee and David Browne. 

Trainers Emma-Lee and David Browne have decided to roll the dice one more time with Statuario in a bid to win their local Cup at Pakenham. 

The New Zealanders who have been in Victoria since April 2022, initially setting-up base at Cranbourne, have been at Pakenham since the start of the 2023-24 season. 

Success has been steady, but a win by Statuario in the Listed Pakenham Cup (2500m) on Saturday would likely generate a big party at the nearby Garfield Hotel. 

"It would be great to win the local Cup," Emma-Lee Browne said. 

"And I reckon the party at the Garfield pub would be wild. 

"It's nice to have runners on the day and being from the area, hopefully it's a good day." 

Browne said the plan to push on to the Pakenham Cup only came about after Statuario pulled up in excellent shape following his third-place finish in the Listed Ballarat Cup (2000m) last Saturday. 

That run followed Statuario's last in the Listed Cranbourne Cup (1600m) on November 22. 

Browne said if things had gone to plan, Statuario would already be in the paddock, but the husband-and-wife training team believe the gelding has another start in him. 

"It was one of those unfortunate races at Cranbourne where he couldn't get out and there was little he could do about it," Browne said. 

"He was much better the other day, but he probably just cost himself late because of that Cranbourne run, he just peaked late, but given that, we probably wouldn't be here if he'd had two hard runs in a row. 

"The horse is very well. We're very happy with how he came through Ballarat, but we don't want to see too much rain on Saturday, so we're watching the weather quite close. 

"We would have liked a slightly more economical draw, but it probably forces our hand to ride him quietly and I think that is sometimes when he's at his best." 

Earlier in the year, Statuario showed his staying promise with a win at Caullfield before running second in the Group 1 South Australian Derby (2500m) at Morphettville. 

The Browne's will also be represented by Bifrost in the Shawn Mendis Lawyers Handicap (1000m) and Rhinoceros in the David Bourke Memorial (1600m).