For the second time in as many starts, underrated sprinter Deploy has a run a track record but connections are not fielding any calls to put him in The Everest.
The Gerald Ryan-trained Deploy ran 1:08.06 in the Show County Quality to set the standard for 1200m at Randwick on August 19 and three weeks later posted 1:14.92 for the 1300m of the Group Two Theo Marks Stakes at Rosehill.
While he has so far been overlooked in discussions about the $10 million Everest on October 14, punters stuck solid on Saturday, sending him out the $2.80 favourite.
Josh Parr took him straight to the front and that’s where he stayed, holding off Egg Tart ($5) by four lengths after the dual Group One winner got back early.
“I’ve always had a big opinion of him but he just keeps flying under the radar,” Ryan said.
“I thought he was one of my best two-year-olds when he was a youngster.
“I was just hoping he wasn’t going too fast but he’s a horse who doesn’t know when to lie down.
“He’s gone to another level and has been bouncing around the stable.
“You wouldn’t think a horse could run a record at Randwick and then back up three weeks later and do it again and improve off it.
“He is just low flying.”
Part-owner John Cornish said he had not fielded any offers from Everest slot holders yet to fill their spots.
“We’ll let the dust settled but there are options for him,” Cornish said.
It was the second Group Two win for Parr in successive races after he steered Gold Standard to victory in the Stan Fox Stakes.
“He (Deploy) is in fantastic form at the moment and the stable has him absolutely flying,” he said.
“What a pleasure it is to ride these horses that are going so well. It is a great job. We can often take it for granted.
“It’s a pleasure to ride a winner for John and Pam Cornish. They actually put me on my first ever metropolitan winner so it is great to get in these colours and win for them.”
Kerrin McEvoy, who won both the Schweppes Oaks and Queensland Oaks on Egg Tart last season, was pleased with the mare’s first-up run.
“The leader was up and rolling and we were back off the pace,” he said.
“Mathematically we couldn’t make up the ground, but she’s given me a good feel well short of her best trip.”
