Gai Waterhouse is eyeing her first Golden Rose win after Gold Standard put himself in the frame with a dominant win in the Group Two Stan Fox at Rosehill.
Waterhouse and her training partner Adrian Bott have lost another Golden Rose contender, Siege Of Quebec, for the spring but Gold Standard looks an able replacement.
Josh Parr took the $4.80 chance to the lead early in Saturday’s 1500m race but was happy to give it up when The Mission went forward.
After The Mission expended all his energy, Gold Standard strode to the front again and went to the line 1-3/4 lengths in front of Sanctioned ($12) with the $2.25 favourite Addictive Nature another length third.
“Siege of Quebec is going through a growth phase so we decided to send him out for a spell but this horse has really stepped up,” Waterhouse said.
“The Golden Rose has always been the plan.”
Parr said the colt had been a slow maturer but showed how far he had come.
“He is mentally much more mature,” he said.
“I said pre-race that physically he has been there for a long time but mentally he just hasn’t stepped up yet. He’s in town now though.
“I jumped really well and The Mission didn’t jump all that well.
“I pressed forward and I tried to go steady and just roll along because I knew at some point The Mission would come at me because that’s what The Mission does.
“As it turned out he gave me a really nice cart into the race.”
Gold Standard firmed from $16 to $15 with the TAB for the $1 million Golden Rose (1400m) in two weeks.
Tim Clark said the favourite Addictive Nature felt the hard track.
“I just feel he didn’t stretch out as well on that firm track,” Clark said.