Phillip Stokes and OTI Racing and start mapping a campaign aimed at culminating on November 4 after Deakin won Saturdayâs Listed Roy Higgins (2600m) at Flemington.
The imported gelding not only earned connections $180,000 and a second-straight Stakes success after his runaway win in the Listed Torney Cup, but also a prized ballot exemption from this yearâs Melbourne Cup.
Stokes is already excited about the journey towards Australiaâs most famous race and was thrilled to see the five-year-old justify the faith he has in him.
âItâs a very important win, just to see the progression the horse has made from when he came to us,â Stokes said.
âHeâs got a start in the Melbourne Cup, thatâs great, and weâll just have to plot a path towards it.
âWhich way we go is probably through a Caulfield Cup I would have thought, but heâs a very exciting horse and itâs a credit to train him.â
Deakin, a son of Australia, made it three wins from five starts since arriving in Australia when he dug deep to hold off Berkshire Breeze in a thrilling finish.
That duo settled down to fight out the race from before the halfway point in the long Flemington straight and Daniel Stackhouse, who has ridden Deakin at each of his Australian starts, got him home by a neck.
Four lengths behind Berkshire Breeze, the $6.50 second favourite, in third position was Mostly Cloudy ($7).
âThe pace wasnât very quick from get-go and he just got a little bit keen being a bit fresh between runs, itâs been over a month now,â Stackhouse said.
âHe just wanted to get the job over and done with a little bit, he didnât really settle that well but it was nice with (Mostly) Cloudy put some speed into the race and he actually relaxed really nicely.
âHe had to dig deep for it, he showed a good turn of foot and he can stay.â
