Quantico has returned a winner after a tough win in Saturday's Southern Cross Stakes at Randwick.
He was first-up after almost a year away from the racetrack and has produced a tough effort under jockey Kerrin McEvoy to claim the Group 3 feature over 1200m.
The son of I Am Invincible jumped evenly from barrier two and settled right on mid-field one-off the running rail before trialling Gravina into the race on the three-wide line.
Titanium Power had been well backed and opted to take a sit outside the leader with Stampe electing to get across to the rail.
Gravina was able to find the one-by-one rather comfortably with James McDonald aboard, while to much punters surprise, Mr Mozart was slow away and flew home late to find the minor money.
The six-year-old gelding out of the John O'Shea yard; however, proved too classy on return, powering over the top of his rival to score a nice win in the China Horse Club colours.
2023 Southern Cross Stakes Replay – Quantico
John O'Shea was almost relieved to see Quantico back at the races after find some bad luck with injuries and wet tracks ruining the chances for his return. He was also glowing about his team getting him back to the races.
“Yeah. It's really rewarding,” said an elated John O'Shea.
“It's just been a really big achievement from a big team, and they should all pat themselves on the back.”
“We took the liberty of giving him an extended break and he really enjoyed his time at the beach, come to us in great order – My staff here have worked tirelessly to make sure he maintained a fitness base and a soundness.”
John O'Shea was quick to quell the expectations moving forward; however, the team are hopeful of finding a nice race for Quantico moving forward.
“I think he's got enormous improvement,” said O'Shea
“Be very rusty today and a great Kerrin (McEvoy) ride and you know to be fair down the side he's probably a little free just on the chewy a bit more than he normally is. So he'll derive a lot of benefit from that.”
“Hopefully he's got a really good race in him as he gets some miles under his belt and gets rid of that rusty racing.”
Jockey Kerrin McEvoy was pleased with the effort of Quantico after his long break as well.
“Good to have him back because he showed a lot of promise early on, he had a bit of an injury there,” said Kerrin McEvoy.
“They've been patient and it's nice to see him come to the track and do this today.”