Not a lot has gone right for Flemington trainer Mark Kavanagh over the last couple of weeks but he was a happy man after the soft win of Whobegotyou in the Group 2 Stutt Stakes at Moonee Valley tonight.

Whobegotyou had little luck in the Guineas Prelude last weekend, while Maldivian tip-toed home in the Underwood Stakes.

Tonight stablemate Cats Whisker had little luck early in the night and Devil Moon was game but beaten in the JRA Stakes when finishing third with a big weight.

But Whobegotyou defied an on-pace pattern with the easiest of wins and looks one of the major spring three-year-olds in the feature races to come.

Jockey Michael Rodd settled well back on the gelding but was awkwardly placed on the inside with 800m to go, given the nights earlier results.

Not wanting a repeat of last week when held up for clear running, Rodd hooked out wide and quickly circled the field.

So quickly in fact he joined the leaders around the bend as the widest runner and kept going, winning eased down by four lengths and only half a second outside the track record.

“I was in a real ordinary position at the half mile,” Rodd said. “I thought the only option was to hook out wide and to win that way against the pattern was pretty awesome.”

Kavanagh decided to back the three-year-old up following last week’s run to give him a better lead into the Caulfield Guineas on Saturday fortnight.

Following the Guineas he may return to Moonee Valley for the AAMI Vase before the Victoria Derby in early November.

While he is now one of the top picks for the Group 1 Caulfield Guioneas, only one horse - Helenus - has won the Stutt/Guineas double in the last 20 years and only a handful have won it in the 80-odd year history of the race.

Only two horses, Helenus in 2002 and Red Anchor in 1984, have won the Stutt/Guineas/Derby treble.
(Source: Racing & Sports)