KEY POINTS:
A bid for a prestigious Australian weight-for-age treble is looming for New Zealand mare Princess Coup after her commanding win in Melbourne on Saturday.
The Mark Walker-trained mare rocketed into $3 favouritism for the group one Australian Cup (2000m) at Flemington on March 8 after winning the group two St George Stakes (1800m) at Caulfield.
Now the group one BMW (2400m) in Sydney on April 19 is on the radar, with the Cox Plate in Melbourne in October the year's long-term goal.
Walker was all smiles afterwards but was taking a "wait-and-see" approach to a Sydney campaign until after the Australian Cup.
But Princess Coup's jockey Damien Oliver was in little doubt about Sydney.
"The BMW's a perfect race for her, 2400 metres at weight-for-age and you don't have to compete against the Europeans," Oliver told Australian racing channel TVN.
"A A$2 million race, it's hard to knock back."
The mare's co-owner, retired Taupo property investor John Bromley, watched the St George from home and couldn't help but agree with Oliver.
"I'm very keen about Sydney," said Bromley.
"As an owner I think you've got to make hay while the sun shines when you've got a good horse.
"But the interests of the horse come first and we'll be closely guided by the trainer, that's what we pay him for."
Saturday's win, Princess Coup's 10th from 25 starts, took her stake earnings to just over NZ$2.26 million for Bromley and Christchurch businessman Ray Coupland.
Walker was already thinking about the Cox Plate last Monday when he sent Princess Coup to Moonee Valley for a track gallop with Oliver aboard.
Her work suggested she'd be tough to beat in the St George and also had Oliver labelling the Cox Plate "a realistic race for her".
Princess Coup on Saturday opened a $2.30 favourite with bookmakers but started at $3.40, with Zabeel gelding Maldivian at $4.
Maldivian hit the lead at the top of the straight but Princess Coup, who settled seventh, wasn't far away and swept past at the 200m.
Princess Coup held off a fast-finishing Sirmione, trained by Bart Cummings, by half a length to reverse the result of the group one Mackinnon Stakes at Flemington last November.
Princess Coup was unplaced in the Melbourne Cup three days after the Mackinnon but remained in Australia for a spell, because of travel restrictions from the equine influenza outbreak.
She was second-up in the St George after a slashing fourth in the Orr Stakes (1400m) on February 9.
Walker said Princess Coup was on target for the Australian Cup.
"It's all going well for a couple of weeks' time," Walker said.
"She didn't have long off after the Melbourne Cup and we were pretty forward (in her preparation) with her.
"Sometimes they can race a bit flat second up but we were pretty happy."
Oliver added: "It was a terrific win. She's really putting it together and accelerated nicely."
Walker said Princess Coup came through the run in top order and yesterday recovered with a trot and a swim at her Kilmore base, outside Melbourne.
Sirmione was a $4 second favourite on Australia's TAB Sportsbet for the Australian Cup while Maldivian, which finished sixth on Saturday, drifted to $6.
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Weekend Hussler is expected to get a weight comparable to past winners Exceed And Excel and General Nediym when handicaps are released today for the group one Newmarket Handicap (1200m).
Racing Victoria chief handicapper Greg Carpenter stopped short of labelling the 3-year-old a champion in the making after he romped home in the group one Oakleigh Plate (1100m).
"He is outstanding," Carpenter said.
Before the Oakleigh Plate he had rated Weekend Hussler at 52.5kg for the Newmarket but it would now be significantly more for the A$1 million sprint at Flemington on March 8.
"The benchmark 3-year-olds as far as the Newmarket Handicap goes are Exceed and Excel (2004) who won with 55kg and General Nediym (1998) who won with 55kg," Carpenter said.
Weekend Hussler has won six of his eight starts, including three group one races. The promise of an increase in weight for Weekend Hussler in the Newmarket will delight jockey Brad Rawiller who rode the Hussonet gelding at 53kg in the Oakleigh Plate.
While Rawiller felt strong after wasting hard to ride at 53kg, he said it was unhealthy for him to be so light for an extended period.
"My body fat is 2.9 per cent. That's well below healthy," Rawiller said.
"I'm normally around six or seven per cent, so I can't stay at that weight."
"He's a super horse, I can't say enough about him," trainer Ross McDonald said.
Weekend Hussler (the $2.15 favourite) wasn't extended in cruising to a 1 3/4-length win over Magnus ($12) and Tramuntana ($81) a neck away third.
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David Hayes trained his third successive Blue Diamond Stakes quinella but the moment belonged to jockey Dwayne Dunn who kept his unbeaten record intact in the A$1 million feature on Reaan.
For the fourth year in a row, Dunn saluted in Victoria's premier two-year-old event when Reaan ($14) scored by a long neck from stablemate All American ($7) with the Tony Vasil-trained Burgeis ($9) a long head away third.
Dunn plotted the same centre of the track path to victory as he had with his only previous Blue Diamond rides on Undoubtedly (2005), Nadeem (2006) and Sleek Chassis (2007).
"He just travelled so good it was like riding Sleek Chassis last year," Dunn said.
Reaan was never closer than three wide on Saturday and Dunn waited until the final 200 metres to make his winning move.
- NZPA & AAP
