Godolphin's French-raced import Avilius is now unbeaten in four starts in Australia in winning this, albeit by a very narrow margin here. He settled back in sixth place, on the rails, tracking a solid tempo before improving (between runners) rounding the home turn. He moved up quickly to take the lead at the 200m and then dug deep under his top weight (58.5kg) to score a game win in a photo and subsequently survive a protest from the runner-up. Lindsay Park-trained/Irish-bred import Jaameh raced back in second last place in the 12-horse field, saved ground on the inner at the home turn, got through to challenge coming to the 200m and then battled strongly for a close second, later protested unsuccessfully against the winner. Yogi raced in ninth place, improved (between runners) at the home turn, got into clear running at the 200m and then ran on well to take third. Northwest Passage chased the frontrunning leader (Harrison), briefly took the lead at the 300m and then held on well for fourth, beaten just under three lengths.