Gai Waterhouse's iron horse Theseo has once again proved himself one of the toughest gallopers in the country with a courageous all-the-way win in the Group One Ranvet Stakes (2000 metres) on Saturday at Rosehill to kick-start Sydney's autumn racing carnival.
The six-year-old gelding racked up his second Group One win in succession - after also triumphing in last week's Chipping Norton Stakes over 1600 metres - and his fifth overall as he recorded his 10th win in 33 starts.
It was the same quinella from the Chipping Norton with the Chris Waller-trained Rangirangdoo again finishing second - his third-successive runner-up finish after also finishing second to Danleigh in the Apollo Stakes at his previous start on February 20.
The Lee Freedman-trained Speed Gifted turned in a promising Sydney Cup trial by flashing home along the rails for third in only his second start since failing in last year's Cox Plate.
Theseo has now won the Ranvet Stakes for the past two years and will now be aimed at Sydney's premier weight-for-age race - the Group One BMW over 2400 metres to be run on Golden Slipper Day, April 3.
Waterhouse described Theseo as 'a very special horse' after he led all the way to win the Ranvet, a victory all the more remarkable because he drew the outside barrier in the field of 12.
"He had a not-very-nice alley and I just loved the way (jockey) Nash (Rawiller) glided him out from the wide alley and let him get into a rhythm early," Waterhouse told TVN after the race.
"He just has that lovely daisy cutting action and when he rolled off the fence slightly in the straight, it was very exciting."
Theseo never looked like being run down and the Waterhouse camp is now planning revenge for last year's BMW when he finished second to wet-track specialist Fiumicino in heavy conditions.
"We would like to win that (race) because last year we felt we were a little bit denied in taking nothing away from the winner," Waterhouse said.
Rawiller said he had no doubt Theseo could make amends for his defeat last year in Sydney's richest weight-for-age race provided he does not encounter similar conditions again.
"Horses are going to struggle to go with him with 59kgs in weight-for-age races," Rawiller said.
"He is not one of those stack-them-up-and-sprint-home horses because he just grinds them into the ground, he is so tough."
"And I've said all along the day Fiumicino beat us (in last year's BMW) if the track was a genuine dead (instead of heavy) he would have won the race so there are no concerns (about running the 2400 metres of the BMW) for me."
While Theseo started a $2.90 favourite in the BMW, there was a surprise in the other Group One race run in Sydney on Saturday with Alverta running away with the $600,000 Coolmore Classic (1500 metres) - one of the few top-level races in Australia that is solely for fillies and mares.
The Paul Messara-trained six-year-old mare paid $17.10 on the Victorian TAB with Waterhouse's Gold Water filling second and the much-improved Palacio De Cristal in third.
Earlier, star Victorian jockey Michael Rodd won both the key lead-up races for the world's richest two-year-old race, the Golden Slipper Stakes in a fortnight, winning with firstly two-year-old filly Military Rose in the Riesling Stakes (1200 metres) before 40 minutes later winning the colts race - the Todman Stakes (1200 metres) - aboard Masquerader.
Both were upset results with the Gillian Heinrich-trained Military Rose defeating John O'Shea's boom filly Solar Charged - which ran third - with Masquerader, trained by David Payne, defeating recent Blue Diamond Stakes winner Star Witness, which was unplaced.