Order Of Command has collected a third win on the Flemington straight course while providing trainer Danny O’Brien the second leg of a double.
O’Brien earlier won with Fabric in Saturday’s PFD Food Services Handicap before Order Of Command won his first stakes race, the Listed Straight Six.
Saturday’s success for Order Of Command was his second in the All Victorian Sprint Series having scored at Caulfield on May 11.
O’Brien said the final at Flemington on July 6 remained a strong possibility although the other option was a brief freshen to prepare for early spring sprints.
Ridden by Damien Oliver, Order Of Command ($4.60) scored a three-quarter length win from Milwaukee ($8.50) with Sirius Suspect ($31) 1-1/4 lengths away.
“He’s a really solid six furlong (1200m) horse and he loves the straight and there’s plenty of options there for him,” O’Brien said.
“I don’t know whether he’ll get to Group One level but the race that might suit him is the 1200-metre race on Derby day.
“This time last year he ran second to Nature Strip and as a five-year-old I’m sure he’ll be better again.
“He knows how to win.”
O’Brien has 53 winners on the board in Victoria for the season, 27 in the metropolitan area with a strike-rate in town of better than 20 per cent.
“We’ve got a nice group of young horses coming through and a good group of staff,” he said.
“Between Barwon Heads and Flemington everything’s running really smoothly.
“It’s been a great season and hopefully we can build on it and get some of the horses back up to Group One level.”