A surprise nomination for last year’s Cup, Stanzout this week provided Davies with one of his biggest thrills in racing with his win in the $100,000 Listed Wangoom Handicap at Warrnambool.

Davies yesterday said Stanzout would likely head to Brisbane for the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) on June 5.

“We certainly thought about going back to Mildura for the Cup – we had such a great time last year,” Davies said.

“He’ll probably get weighted out of it now after winning yesterday (Wednesday).

“I was heading that way initially, but now that he is getting back to his old form the plans have changed.”

In a 2009 Cup field sprinkled with Group race performers, Stanzout finished third behind De Mars. Only Stormhill was allocated more weight than Stanzout’s 60kg.

A proud Davies said he was surprised at Stanzout’s starting price of nearly $17 on Wednesday.

“His last run at Caulfield was sensational and I was pretty confident he could back that up,” he said.

“He ran second to Orbit Express, which went on to win the (Group 3) Victoria Handicap, so the formline was good.

“He ran very well in the Wangoom last year too when he had no luck, so he was clearly capable.”

For more of this story, purchase your copy of Friday’s Sunraysia Daily 07/05/2010.