Ballarat trainer Dan O'Sullivan is edging closer to getting promising Berkeley Square into one of most prestigioust three-year-old classics of the Melbourne Spring Carnival.
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The son of Territories showed he is on course for the $3m Caulfield Guineas, 1600m, on October 8, with a frontrunning win at Flemington on Saturday.
The run not only pleased O'Sullivan, but impressed leading jockey Craig Williams, who was on him for the first time.
Berkeley Square was having his third race start, having taken out a maiden at Geelong in May and then running second at Caulfield on July 23.
O'Sullivan said the win in the VRC Member Damian Cubela Plate, 1410m, set up Berkeley Square's spring.
"I'd like to get him into the Caulfield Guineas, but that's a fair way away yet."
He said a listed race at Flemington in four weeks was his next likely assignment, and then there was another possible target beyond the Guineas.
O'Sullivan said Berkeley Square was not yet fully mentally mature, but had shown another string to his bow by leading throughout.
"He's big and strong, and takes a while to hit top gear, but he responded well when they loomed up to him."
Williams described Berkeley Square as a lovely horse with a lot of scope.
He said he was more professional this run, but was still unsure what to do at the business end.
'What he did do when the other horses loomed is show he likes to compete.
"He's still relatively raw, but exciting," Williams said.
THE Ballarat stable of Tony and Calvin McEvoy have used the Ballarat synthetic track to springboard it into the new season.
The McEvoys have had three wins in Victoria - all on the all-weather circuit.
They kicked off the sequence with promising English Riviera in a three-year-old maiden on Friday and then had a double on Tuesday with Cuban State ($1.50 favourite) in the Martin Collins Polytrack Benchmark64, 1500m, and Nicconi Express ($2.10 favourite) in the Hygain Winners Choice Benchmark58, 1200m.
Ballarat trainers won five of seven races on Tuesday - continuing a trend for hometown stables on the track.
Henry Dwyer, Paddy Payne and Thomas Carberry also saluted.
Dwyer doubled up on the track, also landing a win with maiden Harbourmaster in Ballarat on Friday.
Carberry won with five-year-old gelding Mevius, which has developed into a genuine synthetic track specialist. He now has four wins - two in Ballarat and two at Pakenham - and a second in six starts.
