Vauban was seemingly surrounded at the home turn until his elite stamina traits emerged, propelling him to victory in the Group 3 $350,000 Sky High Stakes (2000m) held at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday.
At almost nine years of age, the previous Irish hurdler affirmed his ongoing competitiveness by digging deep under pressure to achieve consecutive successes in the Sky High Stakes.
“Vauban’s such a remarkable horse, he really is,” said Adrian Bott, who trains in partnership with Gai Waterhouse.
“Australia has really got behind him and so has the ownership group. He’s been a great ride for them. He’s here on the back of a Melbourne Cup campaign and he looks as good as ever.
“I’m really proud of the horse and hopefully he is set for a nice preparation. He gives you such tremendous satisfaction this horse.”
Tim Clark partnered Vauban ($3.40) to become the maiden multiple champion of the Sky High Stakes, winning by one length from Soul Of Spain ($3.80) and Just Fine ($10) one further back in third.
Despite being the $2.80 favourite, Wootton Verni had a dream run yet faltered to fifth place at the finish.
Vauban “feels like a spring three-year-old,” in Clark’s assessment.
“I just think the last couple of weeks he’s really blossomed, he’s got that spring in his step, he’s shown that in a couple of his bits of his work of late,” Clark said.
“Once I was able to get to the position I got to early in the race I was pretty confident from that point onwards. 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.”
Vauban’s immediate target, according to Bott, is the Group 1 $1.5 million Tancred Stakes (2400m) over Rosehill in a couple of weeks, with preparations focused on a fourth Melbourne Cup bid for the gelding.
Previously, Vauban recorded 14th to Without A Fight in 2023’s Melbourne Cup and 11th to Knights Choice the year after, both times with Willie Mullins.
Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott commenced training Vauban last year, resulting in a sixth-placed finish behind Half Yours in the Melbourne Cup.
“I’m not sure about the Sydney Cup this autumn but we will definitely go for the Melbourne Cup again,” Bott said.
“I would like to go through the Tancred like we did last year. Arguably he’s come back better this year and it looks to be a lovely race for him.
“He’s obviously going to be better suited as he gets deeper into the preparation, over a little bit further as well. We might also look at Brisbane, too.”
In Clark’s view, Vauban’s third to Dubai Honour in last year’s Tancred Stakes represented an opportunity lost.
“A little bit of unfinished business in a couple of weeks time, in the Tancred,” Clark said.
“It just went a little bit wrong last year, it might have been one that got away. So, hopefully in two weeks time we can redeem ourselves.”
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