Slade Power has set up a tantalising clash with Lankan Rupee by adding the July Cup to his Group One resume.
The Eddie Lynam-trained horse will take on Lankan Rupee in the VRC Sprint at Flemington in November before he begins stud duties with Darley.
“I’ve always spoke of him very highly and thought he was very good,” Lynam said.
“I’m looking forward to taking him to Melbourne. The last race of his career will be in the VRC Sprint in Melbourne in November.
“I think today he’s proved he’s the best sprinter in Europe and the obvious step now is to try and make him the best sprinter in the world.
“What better place to go than Australia and try to beat them on their own patch, which won’t be easy, but we’ll give it a go.
“Ideally, we’ve about eight weeks between now and Haydock (Sprint Cup) and then eight weeks between Haydock and the VRC Sprint.
“Haydock is a maybe, nothing else.”
Slade Power, winner of the Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot, was the heavily supported 7-4 favourite and the lone runner for the stable following the withdrawal of his Group One winning stablemate Sole Power due to the wet ground.
Both horses are owned by the David and Sabena Power, the parents of bookmaker Paddy Power.
Racing in the far-side group on Saturday and given a nice lead by Spanish challenger Noozhoh Canarias, Slade Power was ridden to the lead by Wayne Lordan entering the final furlong (200m).
He asserted his authority to pass the post 1-1/2 lengths clear of outsider Tropics (66-1).
The Mick Price-trained Lankan Rupee is back in work preparing for his spring campaign and his bid to retain his ranking as the world’s highest rated sprinter.
