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Single Choice announced himself as a genuine Derby contender with an eye-catching victory for the punters at Caulfield in the 2026 Autumn Classic on Blue Diamond Day.

Matt Cumani’s progressive Anders gelding celebrated his biggest win to date, powering home from the back off a perfectly judged ride by Damian Lane to claim a quarter-length victory in the Group 2 $300,000 Autumn Classic (1800m).

“He’s a great horse— he really pushes on all the way to the line, and fantastic to win a race like that,” Cumani told Racing.com.

“Great thrill for the owners, and great thrill for us, it’s our biggest win in Victoria.

“He’s been knocking on the door of a really good win, and stepping up in distance really helped for him.

“A huge thank you to all our team. They’ve done a fantastic job. I don’t get an opportunity to say thanks to all of them as often as I’d like, but what better opportunity than a Group 2 win? Our biggest stakes win so far.”

Following on from a close first-up second carrying plenty of weight on The Heath track in a BM66 on February 9, Single Choice handled his maiden Group 2 success in style with Lane taking full advantage of the hot pace.

The master hoop allowed the up-and-coming young stayer to settle back in the run early as they went hard out in front before unleashing him down the outside on the straight.

The horse charged home late, storming past his rivals to nail Arcora right on the line with Itazura running third.

“Absolutely thrilled. That was a hell of a run, beautifully judged ride,” Cumani said.

“I thought maybe we might have to push forward from that gate today. But I said to Damian Lane, maybe follow one across, he said ‘no, I think there will be decent pace on today’, and he was dead right.

“They went flat out and it suited us sitting in the back.”

The stable also had talented Deal Done Fast, ridden by Daniel Stackhouse, in the Autumn Classic field with the Dundeel colt enormous late running 1.2 lengths back fifth in his first trip to the races since a VRC Derby third in the spring.

“I was delighted for the second horse as well, Deal Done Fast, flew home as well, so really good performance from both,” Cumani added.

“For Deal Done Fast, first race of the preparation, huge finish, and he’ll clearly improve for further

“Great ride by both jocks. They both summed up that there’d be plenty of pace on when on paper perhaps it wasn’t obvious but absolutely delighted with the way they’ve gone.”

For Cumani, all eyes are now on keeping the hefty three-year-old Single Choice lightly raced ahead of the upcoming Derby races around the country.

“I just think Single Choice is a horse that’s a little more hardy. He can handle more races, more often,” he said.

“He’s a horse that’s going to go to Derbies, hopefully.

“We might need him for all three Derbies, so I want to space it out and I don’t want to back him up.

“Two weeks between races for me is a short backup and he’s just a big, heavy horse. I think racing sparingly will work for him.”

His first major assignment is likely to be the Group 1 $2 million Australian Derby (2400m) at Randwick on Day 1 of The Championships in Sydney on April 4.

Single Choice’s all-in quote in 2026 Australian Derby betting at Ladbrokes.com.au has been slashed in from $101 to $26 following his commanding Autumn Classic performance.

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