Roger Varian's Enfjaar set himself up for a Melbourne Cup bid with third in the Caulfield Cup on Saturday.
Paddy Power and Sky Bet cut Enfjaar to 10/1 for the Flemington feature on the first weekend in November.
Enfjaar hit the front in the straight but was passed on the dash to the line by both Kingswood and St George with the former winning by half-a-length.
Winning rider John Allen told racenet.com.au: "Great performance, unbelievable effort by Gavin [Bedggood], he had the horse spot on," Allen said.
"Bit of a messy race, we were three wide early but he was in a nice rhythm, I didn't want to light him up and push forward.
"When a bit of a wave came around him at the 1200m I was happy to leave that go and track them into the race, I knew he'd show a good turn of foot … and he cantered up to them and put them away."
'A messy race' was something of an understatement in the round as there was a nasty incident at the top of the straight. Melbourne Cup winner Half Yours fell after being sandwiched between runners, bringing down Ohope Wins who was fatally injured.
Enfjaar's rider Ray Dawson told the Racing Post he was delighted with the run.
"I couldn’t have dreamed of a better run around," he said. "I thought I was going to win turning in, but he hasn’t run for a while and I think he just felt the pinch inside the last 100 metres.
"I'm very proud of him and he’ll go to the Melbourne Cup now."
Wine Dark Sea finished tenth for Harry Charlton and Joseph O'Brien's Starford was thirteenth.
Kingswood wins the 150th Caulfield Cup 🏆
— 7HorseRacing 🐎 (@7horseracing) October 17, 2026
There was a nasty fall in the straight, we will provide the latest as it comes to hand. pic.twitter.com/p2393hy5sq
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