Capitalist continued his outstanding form with an easy win in the $1.2m Magic Millions two-year-old classic (1200m) at the Gold Coast on Saturday.
Having returned with an impressive win at Wyong over Niccolance, the son of Written Tycoon was backed into the dominant $1.40 favourtie and failed to let punters down.
Blake Shinn took Capitalist forward from the good draw to settle on the speed before displaying an explosive turn of foot inside the 200m to run out a 2.5L winner over Nikatas in second with Candika third.
Capitalist returned a career peak Timeform figure of 116p, one pound above his win on debut in the Breeders’ Plate.
That figure is the highest rated winner of the race since Phelan Ready in 2009 (117) who went on to win the Golden Slipper.
Capitalist is likely to still have plenty of improvement to come on that effort having not really been challenged in his three runs to date and the Racing and Sports field strength value (RSFS) indicates it was quite strong for a two-year-old race and well above last years renewal.
Setting his sights on the Golden Slipper now, Capitalist certainly looks to have the improvement in him to take out the richest two-year-old race in the world with Vancouver having run 122p in the 2015 renewal.
Second placegetter Nikitas also unsurprisingly ran to a new career peak figure of 107, three pounds above his third in the B.J Mclachlan Stakes with Candika third and Niccolance fourth also worth following going forward.
Mahuta was able to overcome a wide barrier to claim his fifth win in a row in the Magic Millions three-year-old Guineas (1400m).
The Darren Weir-trained runner was unsurprisingly taken forward by Brad Rawiller from barrier 15 and was able to hold off Single Gaze and Egyptian Single over the concluding stages.
Mahuta ran to a new career peak Timeform figure of 116, one pound above his win in the Group 2 Sandown Guineas last start the start prior.
The RSFS Value indicates the race was on par with a Three-year-old Group 2 race and well above last years renewal with the sectional splits showing it was run at race par.
Mahuta is the highest rated winner of the race since Gold Edition in 2007 (122), well above 2015 winner Deiheros (102).
Having now won five of his seven starts, Mahuta will more than likely eye off some of the feature races during the autumn with his 122 putting him right in the mix for some Group 1 races.
Darren Weir had the two highest rated winners of the day with Lucky Hussler also saluting for the stable in the Magic Millions Cup (1400m).Settling in a good spot midfield with Glen Boss on board, Lucky Hussler swept to the lead inside the 200m, running out a 1.5L winner over Strawberry Boy in second with Biligari third.
Lucky Hussler returned a Timeform figure of 123, his highest since wining the Group 1 Toorak Handicap at Caulfield late last year (125).
The RSFS value indicates it was around Group 2 standard, considerably above the 2015 renewal.
Lucky Hussler is the highest rated winner of the race by some margin and will now set his sights on the Group 1 Orr Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on February 13.
Dissident who took out last years renewal of the Orr Stakes returned a figure of 121 on that occasion and with Lucky Hussler having a peak rating of 125 should be very hard to beat in a race like that.
Second placegetter Strawberry Boy returned a figure of 108, his highest since running fourth in the Group 1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes last year and having led throughout seemingly had his chance but was no match for the winner.
The nine race programme at Canterbury saw a few progressive runners come out of the meeting.
Denmagic ran to a new peak of 91 when claiming a narrow victory in the James Boags Benchmark 72 Handicap (1550m) over Pioneering in second (100) with the well fancied Chandana having no luck in third.
Chandana ran to a new peak of 94 and having featured in the money all four starts to date looks a good progressive three-year-old filly.
Having had just the two starts this campaign, the Chris Waller-trained runner is one to keep an eye on this campaign with the RSFS for the race slightly above par for a benchmark 72.
The last on the programme saw Esgrimidor follow up some good form with a win in the Tfe Hotels Benchmark 75 Handicap (1100m) for Todd Howlett.
The five-year-old gelding ran to a career peak figure of 90 with the run of the race coming from third placegetter Voilier with 54.5kg.
The three-year-old gelding returned well when runner up at Randwick behind Rule The River, with Husson Eagle third on that occasion, subsequently going on to win at the Gold Coast on Saturday.
Voilier returned a Timeform figure of 99, four pounds below his first up run but having run up to 109 last campaign has plenty up his sleeve going forward this campaign.
