Vauban Defends Sky High Stakes Title at Rosehill Under Tim Clark

Vauban does not do slow builds. The 8-year-old Galiway gelding arrived at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday fresh off a Melbourne Cup campaign, first-up for his autumn preparation, and proceeded to defend the Group 3 Asahi Super Dry Sky High Stakes as if the race had been written for him. Tim Clark tracked stablemate Just Fine through the early stages, bided his time turning for home, and then let the horse do what horses from this family do: stay, and stay better than everything else in the field.

The further they went, the more decisive it became. Vauban pulled clear to win by just under a length from Soul Of Spain, with Just Fine holding on for third and River Of Stars finishing a further two and a half lengths back in fourth on her first run of the preparation. The winning time over 2000 metres on the Good(4) surface was 2:03.00. Soul Of Spain, trained by Chris Waller and ridden by Tommy Berry, had worked home extremely well, mirroring his finish in the G1 Verry Elleegant Stakes at his previous start. Just Fine, stablemate to the winner and ridden by Regan Bayliss, completed the Waterhouse-Bott quinella in the placings.

Clark was unhurried in his assessment afterward. "Once I was able to get to the position I got to I was pretty confident from that point onwards," he said. "I thought he let down really well and he's started his prep off in good style. I think that was a better win than this time last year, so hopefully he's in for another good preparation."

Co-trainer Adrian Bott was not short of superlatives. "He's such a remarkable horse, he really is," Bott said. "Australia has really got behind him and so has the ownership group. He's been a great ride for them, he's back here on the back of a Melbourne Cup campaign and he looks as good as ever. Really proud of the horse and hopefully set for a nice preparation. He gives you such tremendous satisfaction this horse."

The win took Vauban's overall record to ten wins and nine placings from 30 starts, with career earnings now sitting at $2,376,743. He had started the race at $3.40, with Soul Of Spain as his nearest rival in the market at $3.80. The prize pool for the Group 3 was $350,000.

The breeding tells most of the story. Vauban is the lone stakes winner out of Waldfest, a Hurricane Run mare who won at 2750 metres, and he carries the staying genes of a family that also produced Arc winner Waldgeist and St Leger winner Masked Marvel. He is also the highest prizemoney earner for Galileo stallion Galiway, whose 16 individual stakes winners include two at Group 1 level.

Now the autumn campaign proper begins. Vauban is well fancied for the G1 Tancred Stakes over 2400 metres and holds nominations for both the G1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes at 2000 metres and the G1 Sydney Cup at 3200 metres. If Saturday was an opening statement, the Group 1 targets over the coming weeks will determine whether this preparation matches or surpasses the one that preceded it.