The Hawkes Racing-trained Divine Prophet could follow in the footsteps of his elder brother Proisir after a brilliant first-up win in the Group III Up And Coming Stakes (1300m) at Randwick on Saturday. Click here to view the race replay.
Divine Prophet ($7.50) was a clear last at the 400 metre mark before producing a scintillating turn of speed to claim victory in the final stride.
Victorian visitor Derryn ($3.60), prepared by David and Ben Hayes and Tom Dabernig, looked the winner 100 metres from the winning post but simply had no answer to Divine Prophet's late surge, going down by a short neck.
Finishing the same margin away in third was Thronum ($3 fav) for Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott.
In only two starts in his first preparation, Divine Prophet won a provincial maiden before finishing third in the Group I Champagne Stakes (1600m) at Randwick.
Co-trainer John Hawkes said the colt had given indications that he would progress further as a three-year-old and possibly stretch out to 2000 metres.
"He showed a bit of promise as a young horse and he's gone the right way and trained on," Hawkes said.
"It's only his first run back so I think he'll improve a bit. He's got a long way to go this spring but I think he'll run over a mile and a quarter."
Divine Prophet's win catapulted him to the top of Golden Rose futures markets at $6 with Sportsbet, just above stablemate Star Turn ($8), an impressive winner of the Group III San Domenico Stakes (1100m) last Saturday at Rosehill.
Hawkes said the spring programs of Divine Prophet and Star Turn would not be dictated by the prospect of them clashing.
"We haven't decided anything yet. You've got to run the horses where they've got to run.
"They're different three-year-olds anyway, this bloke (Divine Prophet) is a more a middle-distance type whereas the other one is more a sprinter."
Divine Prophet is also entered for the Group I Caulfield Guineas (1600m) on October 8 and Group I Cox Plate (2040m) at Moonee Valley.
In the 2012 version of the Cox Plate, Divine Prophet's sibling Proisir finished eighth behind Ocean Park following a narrow defeat to It's A Dundeel in the Group I Spring Champion Stakes (2000m).
Proisir was retired two starts later and now stands at Rich Hill Stud in New Zealand.
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