OTI Racing have Melbourne Cup ambitions for Van Percy, an impressive winner of the Summer Stakes at Goodwood in England overnight. Van Percy is prepared by Andrew Balding, who won the Mackinnon Stakes with Side Glance during the spring carnival last year, and will progress to the Ebor Handicap at York in August before a trip to Australia.
"He will be near the bottom of the weights in the Ebor, but that is handy," Balding said.
"He probably needs to go up another 10lb to get into the Melbourne Cup, but he was bought with that in mind and he will go down there and possibly run in something like the Geelong Cup - we'll take it from there."
Van Percy downed the favourite Havana Cooler by a neck in the Summer Stakes (2800m) with Noble Silk a little over two lengths away in third.
"He needs to settle in his races and the hood has helped him turn over a new leaf this year. Everything went right for him today and when that happens he is a smart horse," said winning jockey David Probert.
"Once I got him to settle, I knew that was the key because he was then in a good rhythm."