The Nigel Blackiston-trained Inside Agent put the writing on the wall
Michael Walker allowed the 3yo son of Stravinsky (USA) to drift well back in the field in Sunday's Listed Poseidon Stakes (1400m) at Flemington but his powerhouse finish was not to be denied this time.
He rocketed passed the outsider
"From the first time I sat on him he gave me a good feel," Walker said.
"He's a typical Stravinsky, some of them go early, but this horse is a slow maturing type and he did what I thought he would today.
"We made a plan today to ride him quiet, even before the wind came, as there is a mile race on Derby Day (Carbine Club Stakes) that is his target.
"It might be a bit too soon, he still didn't know what to do when he got to the front and did well when the other horse came at him but I like him, I think he's a really nice horse."
Winning trainer Nigel Blackiston said there was plenty of upside to the son of Stravinsky.
"He's still green and got a lot to learn but he looks to have a lot of promise," Blackiston said.
"The Carbine Club here on Derby Day is the race we had in mind for him, he might go to Caulfield in two weeks time for the Gothic Stakes."
A $180,000 purchase by her trainer out of the Cambridge Stud draft at the 2015 NZ Bloodstock Premier Yearling sale, Inside Agent comes from the final crop of former Cambridge Stud shuttler Stravinsky (USA).
The 3yo colt becomes the third stakes winner for his dam Octapussy after Group II Wakefield Challenge Stakes winner Pussy Willow (O'Reilly) and Listed winner and Group 1 runner-up Pussy O'Reilly (O'Reilly).
A daughter of the champion Octagonal,
Herself a daughter of the Group II winning Tights mare Dopff,
