A field of maiden 2-year-olds stretching out to 1800m for the first time in the Byerley Hcp at Flemington, which carried the carrot of a golden ticket to the Victoria Derby in November.
The Dundeel colt Red Aces had only one previous start, finishing third in a Seymour maiden over 1300m 0on July 2. Jamie Mott had Red Aces travelling sweetly midfield on the fence and needed to go around just one horse, hitting the line with gusto to defeat another son of Dundeel, Politely Dun, by three-quarters of a length.
There was merit in the effort of the runner-up. The son of Group 1 Myer Classic winner Politeness was on one rein for most of the straight.
The top-weight Stay Silent (Deep Field) was honest again, adding third place to his third in the Listed Taj Rossi Final at Flemington.
Winning trainer Nick Ryan said the Victoria Derby had been the goal all along for Red Aces.
"We were originally going to go to a mile maiden on Monday at Seymour, but he came on so much from his first run," Ryan said.
"We always thought we had a Derby colt. My stepfather JJ Gordon, purchased him as a staying type.
"He has taken a little while, but the penny has dropped. That's a big jump from 1300m to 1800m at his second start.
"I liked the way he knuckled down; his breeding probably kicked in over the last furlong, and we have a nice staying colt on our hands.
"We've got 15 weeks (until the Victoria Derby), so we will put him away, but not for too long. He might be a bit of a Munhamek, a good-doing, gross colt."
A $380,000 purchase for his trainer from the Musk Creek Farm draft at the 2023 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale, Red Aces is a half-brother to the Group III SAJC Chairman's Stakes winner Declarationofheart (Declaration Of War).
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He is the third winner from four to race for the winning Encosta De Lago mare Cardiac, a three-quarter sister to Listed winner Da Little Engine and a half to the VRC Oaks heroine Arapaho Miss (Dabnehill Dancer), whose daughter Miami Bound (Reliable Man) also won the VRC Oaks.
Red Aces is Cardiac's final foal. She died in October 2022.
Red Aces is the sixth 2-year-old winner of the season for Dundeel, who stands for $88,000 at Arrowfield Stud in 2026.
