The margin wasn’t great and he will be confronted by more ominous rivals at Flemington in a fortnight, but Cascadian kept his Australian Cup hopes on track with victory in Saturday’s Group 2 Peter Young Stakes (1800m) at Caulfield.
The James Cummings-trained import recorded his first win since last year’s Doncaster Mile with the seventh win of his 34-start career.
The New Approach gelding retains a place on the $6 second line of betting in TAB’s market on the $1.5 million Group 1, which is headed by Spanish Mission ($5), and Oliver said he had improved from his first-up third in the Group 1 C.F. Orr Stakes (1400m).
“He’s always been a consistent performer and often he just finds one better, but I think he’s a genuine horse and I think that is the best he’s felt for me today,” Oliver said.
The Hall of Fame jockey asked more of the $2.05 favourite early than normal to hold the spot behind the leader in the small field and found a gap midway down the straight before going home to score by half-a-length from Yonkers ($8.50) with Emissary ($21) a head away third.
“I wanted to be a little bit positive, but I didn’t want to take him out of his comfort zone,” Oliver said.
“I thought I’d end up in the box seat where I did and then it was just a matter of getting out when I needed to.
“It was a little bit reliant on luck getting to the turn but once I was able to fade across their heels and get into the clear, I was quietly confident and he quickened nicely.”
Cascadian provided Oliver with his sixth win in the Peter Young Stakes, a little more than an hour after he won the Group 2 Autumn Classic for the fifth time, aboard Castlereagh Kid.