Quality stayer Dunkel lumped 61kgs to an emphatic victory at Moonee Valley on Saturday, as the Patrick Payne-trained galloper notched the seventh victory of his career from just ten starts.
Perfectly ridden by jockey Billy Egan, Dunkel tracked the leader Grand Promenade throughout and was able to take an inside run when that runner lugged out rounding the home bend to score by just over a length.
Winner of the Group 1 South Australian Derby (2500m) last season, Dunkel is being readied for a return trip to the City of Churches with the Group 2 Adelaide Cup (3200m) at Morphettville on March 11.
Payne has said that fitness is the key to the New Zealand-bred son of Dundeel, who was able to race his way into fitness and still win as a three-year-old but is lumping big imposts as an open class four-year-old.
The gelding finished runner-up in a Kyneton jumpout a fortnight ago having finished second at Caulfield over 1800m when resuming last month when beaten by lightweight Let'srollthedice.
“He's getting ready for the Adelaide Cup so we didn't need to be rushing back to the races, we just had to work on his fitness level a little bit,” Payne said.
Jockey Billy Egan was aware the stayer had taken good improvement from the first-up run and jumpout.
“It was a really good win today,” Egan said. “The race worked out quite nicely. We didn't want to give them too much of a head start with the big weight and it was just a matter of getting the runs at the top of the straight.
“He has certainly taken really good fitness (from the first-up run). The other day he came out and built into the race and just peaked on his run not long after entering the straight. He probably just maintained that gallop to the line.
“Today, even though he had a very cruisy run in behind them, he sprinted quite well and he was very good through the line. He was getting away from them.
“I certainly think an Adelaide Cup would be right up his alley.”
Dunkel has finished outside the top two only once, when ninth in the Group 2 Alister Clark Stakes (2040m) at The Valley last March.
He bounced back eight weeks later to win the South Australian Derby with Egan in the saddle.