Sydney’s new weight for age star Kermadec proved that he is a true Cox Plate contender with a convincing win in the Group 1 $500,000 Colgate Optic White George Main Stakes (1600m) at Randwick today.

Kermadec was sent out the $2.35 favourite and even though he was back in the middle of the ruck in the early and middle stages and well into the straight, the Chris Waller trained four year old had the major prize within is sights half way down the straight.

Fill in rider Glyn Schofield didn’t panic when Blake Shinn let Pornichet go coming down the rise and even though Kermadec only won by a short margin, it was a dominant victory.

Stablemate Royal Descent ($5) had to do the hard work of chasing down Pornichet ($6.50) and finally got the better of the Gai Waterhouse trained stallion to grab second spot.

Waller said that it is highly likely that Kermadec will miss the Group 1 $1m The Star Epsom (1600m) at Randwick in a fortnight and head straight to Melbourne.

Waller will then use the Group 1 $400,000 Caulfield Stakes (2000m) at Caulfield on October 10 as Kermadec’s final lead up to the Group 1 $3m William Hill Cox Plate (2040m) at Moonee Valley on October 24.

“”It was good to see, “Waller said.

“He is a very good, he is lightly raced. There were genuine excuses last start in a good race and more things went his way today.”

“But he didn’t have it perfect, he got caught wide in the early stages but he was strong that last 200m.”
“So that was good heading towards the Caulfield Stakes and the Cox Plate.”

“If we can get one of those big ones in Melbourne, he is a very valuable horse.”

And Waller is very confident in taking on the best weight for age horses in the world in the Cox Plate and is certain he has the right horse to win it.

“If he is trained right he will win it,” Waller said.

George Main Stakes results

Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Starting Price
1	5	KERMADEC (NZ)	Chris Waller	Glyn Schofield	–	4	58.5kg	$2.35F
2	8	ROYAL DESCENT	Chris Waller	Hugh Bowman	0.5L	6	57kg	$5
3	2	PORNICHET (FR)	Gai Waterhouse	Blake Shinn	0.6L	8	59kg	$6.50
4	9	LUCIA VALENTINA (NZ)	Kris Lees	Brenton Avdulla	2.6L	2	57kg	$8
5	10	KIRRAMOSA (NZ)	John Sargent	Tommy Berry	3L	7	57kg	$19
6	6	SWEYNESSE	John O’Shea	James McDonald	4.5L	3	58.5kg	$20
7	7	HAURAKI	John O’Shea	Sam Clipperton	5.3L	9	58.5kg	$26
8	1	PROTECTIONIST (GER)	Kris Lees	Christian Reith	5.9L	1	59kg	$51
9	3	HOOKED	John P Thompson	Tye Angland	7.3L	5	59kg	$14