Just eight days before his wedding, jockey Jye McNeil made it four consecutive wins at Caulfield, completing a feature race double aboard Generation in the Group 3 Manfred Stakes.
Sent out as a $1.85 favourite in the field of five, Generation picked up in the autumn where he left off in the spring, cruising to a stylish victory.
Godolphin runner Zethus issued a challenge in the straight, but the class of Generation kicked in over the final furlong, as the hot-pot found another gear late to win the 1200m event.
Trained by Ciaron Maher & David Eustace, the three-year-old colt by Snitzel has always shown plenty of promise, having won three of his five starts prior, including the Group 3 Red Anchor Stakes (1200m) at Moonee Valley on Cox Plate Day.
After sitting outside the leader and main market danger Unflinching, McNeil strode closer aboard the race favourite on the point of the turn and raced away to win by 1.25 lengths.
“His performance was great,” the winning rider told Racing.com.
“He landed in a terrific position straight from the barriers; he put his nose down and then really got into a good rhythm today and paced himself well.
“That worked really well into our advantage, and he was really strong.”
Despite the runner-up looming like the winner at the 200m mark, McNeil was confident that his mount had enough in the locker to go on with the job.
“There’s a balance between waiting long enough that you’re gonna be hitting your top over the final stages, but also building your momentum,” he said.
“I found that balance, and as I say, he performed really well.”
While a clash with unbeaten stablemate Marabi in the Oakleigh Plate looks unlikely, co-trained David Eustace didn’t rule out a potential Group 1 berth for his speedy colt.
Generation holds a nomination for the Newmarket Handicap down the straight at Flemington on March 12 and bookmakers have him rated a $26 chance in futures markets.