Exciting galloper Taunting maintained his unbeaten record since resuming with a dominant win in the final race on a bumper 10-race card at Morphettville on Saturday.
Trainer Michael Hickmott has a raft of options with the four-year-old which could include backing up against multiple Group 1 winner Behemoth in the Listed W H Wylie Stakes at Morphettville in two weeks’ time.
Hickmott said Melbourne is the end game for the talented gelding who showed good speed to lead and was untroubled winning his fourth race from just seven starts.
The win was the second leg of a double for Jess Eaton, who scored aboard Elsa’s Pride for Matt Seyers early in the day, and the first of two wins for Hickmott after Unlaced scored earlier in the day.
Unlaced was also the first leg of a riding double for SA’s leading apprentice Ben Price when he partnered Short Stories to victory for boss Will Clarken.
Clarken also walked away with two winners when Noname Lane, a horse who could be headed towards the Balaklava Cup on Wednesday week, bounced back to winning form.
Noname Lane was ridden by Todd Pannell, himself bagging a double after guiding Nostryia to an upset win for veteran horseman Ken Sweeney.
Peter and Belinda Blanch also had a memorable day claiming their first metropolitan victory since joining in a training partnership when Ultimate Victory flashed home to win late in the day.