Emerging Kiwi 3yr-old Shocking Luck put his Queensland Derby rivals on notice with an emphatic victory in the group 3 Rough Habit Plate at Doomben on Saturday.
The Te Akau galloper proved he was on target for his Derby tilt by running away from his rivals to score for jockey Opie Bosson.
The win impressed Shocking Luck's co-trainer, Jamie Richards, who is eyeing one more run with the horse before he tackles his ultimate Queensland Winter Carnival goal.
''It was a top performance as he was a little wide early on but really put them away in the straight and was very dominant at the finish.
''His main aim is the Queensland Derby and he will have his final lead-up in the Grand Prix Stakes in a fortnight.''
Richards and his training partner, Stephen Richards, also produced Zambezi Warrior to run third on the Doomben programme in the group 3 Chairman's Handicap.
''The plan was to ride him handy as there seemed to be a bias towards the front runners but that went out the window when he copped a check at the start.
''He got another bump approaching the home turn so he put in a super effort to run home strongly for fourth.''
Autridge and Richards are also looking forward to unleashing Splurge and Melody Belle at the Brisbane Winter Carnival.
''Splurge has settled in well and we will gallop him on the grass at the Gold Coast on Tuesday,'' Richards said.
''He will run in the BRC Sprint and then hopefully the Stradbroke after that.
''Melody Belle has pulled up well after her trial the other day although she has taken the longest to settle in here. Her aim is the Sires Produce Stakes at Eagle Farm on the 27th and then the group 1 JJ Atkins on the 10th of June.''
Bosson went within half a length of winning the feature race on Saturday aboard the Chris Waller-trained Counterattack.
Counterattack ran into second, behind the Peter and Paul Snowden-trained Redzel in the group 1 Doomben 10,000.
Also on Saturday, Australia's leading trainer, Darren Weir, won the group 1 South Australian Derby at Morphettville.
He and stable jockey John Allen made it back-to-back wins in the race when Volatile Mix held out placegetters Ruthven and Odeon.
-By Jonny Turner
-Additional reporting by NZ Racing Desk
