Imported galloper Stout Hearted showed he was worthy of a start in the Caulfield Cup with his Group Three Kingston Town Stakes win at Rosehill on Saturday.
And the Racing Victoria handicapper has brought the prospect closer by penalising the talented stayer one kilogram for the victory.
The Chris Waller-trained galloper will now carry 51kg in the $2.6 million race, a level regarded as the minimum require to secure a run.
“He is a very progressive European stayer who has won four of his six starts this preparation,” said handicapper Greg Carpenter.
“Saturday was his first test at Group level and he was very strong at the end of the 2000 metres winning in race record time.”
Strawberry Boy, who finished third to Stout Hearted in the Kingston Town, also made up valuable ground.
The Gai Waterhouse-trained runner has now passed the Caulfield Cup ballot, moving as as a result 85th to equal 67th in the order of entry.
Also on the move among big race entrants was the South Australian Happy Trails whose win in the Group Two Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes made him exempt from the Caulfield Cup and Cox Plate ballots.
Trainer Paul Beshara says the Cox Plate is Happy Trails’s major target.