The market told the story in Saturday's Group II Theo Marks Stakes (1300m) as Gerald Ryan's speedster Deploy raced to another clock-shattering win while the hysteria around Egg Tart was somewhat tempered.
Support for Deploy had been relentless since final field betting commenced on Wednesday. After opening a $6 chance, the gelding started a commanding $2.80 favourite while bookmakers struggled to write a ticket for Chris Waller's Egg Tart which had drifted from $2.70 to as high as $6.50.
Josh Parr, who had captured the Group II Stan Fox Stakes (1500m) on Gold Standard only 40 minutes earlier, was unerring in his tactics on Deploy – sending his mount to an early lead and giving nothing else a look in.
The race time broke Alquoz's 27-year-old track record by 0.16 seconds – a performance Ryan didn't think was possible after Deploy took 0.09 seconds off That's A Good Idea's 1200m Randwick track record only three weeks ago.
"When he broke the track record at Randwick I didn't think he could improve off it but after he worked here on Tuesday morning I reckon he had," Ryan said.
"He'd been bouncing around the stables since Randwick and he's usually a pretty quiet fella. The horse is just flying."
Ryan now lays claim to four track records in Sydney, the others being Solicit's Group II Guy Walter Stakes (1400m) victory at Randwick last year and Snitzerland's Group II Challenge Stakes (1000m) win at Warwick Farm in 2013.
Deploy's recent form has naturally sparked talk of a berth in the inaugural $10 million Everest (1200m) on October 14, however Ryan said the lucrative weight-for-age race is an unlikely destination for the son of Fastnet Rock.
"I don't want to go too far into the spring with him because he only had 12 days after Queensland," Ryan said.
"We'll probably find one more race for him and then spell him."
Egg Tart, a horse that has curiously attracted some premature comparisons to Winx, was no match for Deploy, finishing four lengths away in second. That said, the newly-turned four-year-old mare did clock the fastest 200m split of the race with a 10.8 second sectional between the 400m and 200m.
The Hawkes Racing-trained Euro Angel ($9) made a late charge into third, beaten another three-quarters of a length.
