With Ef Troop taking on the favourite Racecourse Road, Friday's $125,000 Listed Goldmarket Quality (1200m) at the Gold Coast was run at breakneck speed, which set it up perfectly for the fast-finishing Desert Lord.
Ridden by Michael Cahill, the 7yo son of High Chaparral (IRE) came from midfield with a barnstorming finish to defeat the 4yo Wandjina gelding Tramonto by a long-neck with a further half-length back to the 7yo I Am Invincible gelding Totally Charmed in third.
Group 1 winner Alligator Blood (All Too Hard) was carrying plenty of condition at his first start in 42 weeks and will take plenty of benefit from his fourth.
Desert Lord has missed a place just once in eight starts since he transferred to David Vandyke in August last year.
The Sunshine Coast conditioner was saddling his third winner on the day.
With his first stakes success, Desert Lord advances his record to eight wins, three seconds and five thirds from 26 starts with earnings of $441,530.
Desert Lord opened up favourite for an open handicap over 1350m at Doomben on Saturday, but Van Dyke said the Goldmarket was always his mission.
"I thought the 1200m with 54kgs in a race where the pace was always going to be on looked a lovely race for him, and it was," Vandyke said.
"He’s got an awkward action. He holds his head up a bit, so it’d s hard to know how he is travelling, but there was good pace on. When Michael got him to the outside, I thought he had done nothing and would find the line.
“He loves being a Queenslander and is enjoying life. He has been in a good headspace this week and is a happy horse.”
A homebred for Steven Dillon and partners, Desert Lord is a half-brother to three winners led by Acrostar (Danehill Dancer), a dual Listed stakes-winner in South Africa.
Dillon purchased Desert Lord’s dam Nova Star for just $13,500 at the 2004 Gold Coast Magic Millions, and what an investment she proved to be.
The daughter of Iglesia won seven races highlighted by defeating Fashions Afield in both the Group 1 Winter Stakes and Group II Queensland Guineas. She also captured the Group II QTC Cup on the way to banking over $886,000.
Now well into the veteran's category, Nova Star has a yearling filly by Speith and visited Nom Du Jeu in January.
Desert Lord becomes the 134th stakes-winner for the late Coolmore stalwart High Chaparral (IRE), who died in 2014.
