The Team Hawkes sprinter Outrageous made it two from two this campaign and connections will now target the Villiers Stakes with him after he won the Group Three Festival Stakes at Rosehill Gardens.
Outrageous ($4.60), with Tommy Berry riding, followed his win at Flemington on Melbourne Cup Day with a gutsy victory holding off Royal Celebration ($19) by a half neck with Evalina ($17) a further length and a quarter away in third.
The All Too Hard gelding has always raced at the highest level, contesting in the Group 1 Sires Produce and Champagne Stakes as a two-year-old and co-trainer Michael Hawkes believes he is maturing and the penny is finally starting to drop.
“He’s just taken a really long time to come to hand,” Hawkes said.
“A couple of years ago he might not have found the solid form that he has, but the older he’s got the better he’s got.”
The Group Two Villiers Stakes at Randwick on December 12 over 1600 metres will be the next target for Outrageous in two weeks’ time with Hawkes not concerned about the step up to the Randwick mile.
“I don’t think it will probably be an issue with him,” Hawkes said.
“He’s run over the mile as a younger horse, and first up over 1400m was a magical effort at Flemington.”
