The Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained Gold Standard stamped himself a genuine Golden Rose contender with victory in the Group II Stan Fox Stakes (1500m) at Rosehill on Saturday.
Ridden with confidence by Josh Parr, Gold Standard ($4.80) tracked notoriously fierce front-runner The Mission ($11) before claiming the lead at the 300m mark and going on to score by 1-3/4 lengths.
"It wasn't necessarily the plan to hand up the lead today but full credit to Josh, he took control of the race," Bott said.
"I think this is special colt going forward for us – he's thriving, you only had to look in the yard today to see how well he was doing and he ran up to those looks."
The win was a timely one for the Waterhouse and Bott partnership as the stable's main Golden Rose hope, Siege Of Quebec, was withdrawn from the Group II Run To The Rose (1200m) on Friday.
"Siege Of Quebec is just going through a growth phase at the moment so we made the decision to spell and save him for the autumn," Waterhouse said.
James Cummings' Godolphin charge Sanctioned ($12) ran on stoutly into second while Addictive Nature ($2.10 fav) was a touch disappointing as favourite, finishing a further length away in third.
Online bookmaker Sportsbet shortened Gold Standard's Golden Rose quote from $26 into $15 shortly after the win.
