Following another narrow win at Moonee Valley on Saturday afternoon, the Phillip Stokes-trained Daqiansweet Junior looks set for the Hobart & Launceston Cup in the coming weeks.
The four-year-old son of Sweet Orange managed to bring up a fourth consecutive win this campaign, when getting his head down on the line to get the better of In A Twinkling.
Remarkably the combined winning margin for his four wins this time in is merely 0.5 lengths.
Having been sent around as a $2.30 favourite with Sportsbet.com.au, Daqiansweet Junior needed every bit of the 2500m on Saturday, but got his head down where it mattered most.
Jamie Kah had the bay gelding settled at the rear of the field and inside the final 800m was able to gain a tow into the race from Guns Ablazing, which saw him joined the leaders on the home turn.
When cornering, it looked like he was going to but a decent gap on his rivals, but with In A Twinkling kicking back underneath him he was made to battle it out as the pair went stride-for-stride down the home straight.
Daqiansweet Junior by a nose
That’s now 4 straight wins for the @pstokesracing-trained galloper.@OTIRacing @jamieleekah07 pic.twitter.com/YkoMj88nYC
— Racing.com (@Racing) January 22, 2022
“He’s a typical stayer, he conserves his energy and on a hot day like this he didn’t raise a hair,” Kah said post-race to Racing.com.
“If I rode him against, I probably would have waited another 100m,” the star hoop revealed, suggesting he would’ve put a sizeable margin on his rivals had she been more patient.
Daqiansweet Junior’s trainer Phillip Stokes was quick to flag his intentions on heading south to the Hobart Cup along with the Launceston Cup for his progressive stayer.
“He looks like he gets a ticket to Tasmania,” Stokes said in his post-race interview.
Stokes revealed that he has never had a runner in Tasmania and with Daqiansweet Junior’s current form he is set to be one of the main chances in the staying events.
The Hobart Cup is set to be run on February 13, which will give Daqiansweet Junior three weeks between runs for the 2400m Group 3 staying affair.
If he is to perform well in the Hobart Cup, Stokes will look to keep in Tasmania for the Group 3 Launceston Cup albeit on a quick back-up nine days on February 22.
