EN GARDE: KNIGHT DOMINATES STAKES OPPOSITION

Danny O'Brien has become a serious player in the major Cups this spring after Saracen Knight continued his resurrection as a stayer with a strong performance to land the Group 2 Herbert Power Stakes (2400m) at Caulfield on Saturday.

The Herbert Power winner is normally exempt from the ballot for next week's Caulfield Cup, but as Saracen Knight was never among the original nominations, he now waits a further week for his spring grand final in the $1 million Moonee Valley Cup.

O'Brien already has his sights set on winning a second Caulfield Cup next week with either Inspirational Girl or Vow And Declare, while he hopes that pair can also make it to the Melbourne Cup along with his Turnbull Stakes placegetter Young Werther.

O'Brien said Saracen Knight was finally making a good fist of his career after being lost in the wilderness over the past 12 months.

"We didn't nominate for either (Caulfield or Melbourne) Cup when they closed back in August," O'Brien said.

"He was a long way off at that stage, running in rating 78s, so we didn't even contemplate he could be Caulfield or Melbourne Cup-bound.

"We had him two springs ago for the (Lloyd) Williams camp and he was really promising and then just went off the scene for a while.

"We got him back about 12 months ago but he just didn't appreciate the firm tracks over summer, so we put him out and waited for Soft ground.

"What's really helped has been the ground in Melbourne over the past three or so months. Perfect Soft 5 or Soft 6 (conditions) and he's loving going to the races and pulling up really well."

Despite not being in the Cups nominations, Saracen Knight was backed into favoritism on Saturday, eventually starting at $4.20. He enjoyed a length-and-a-half margin over import Makram ($21), with the consistent Desert Icon ($8) a further half head away in third.

Jockey Jamie Kah said the horse is racing at his peak.

"Geez, this horse is flying. They've just got this horse in the zone. He's push button to ride but he just really wants to do it at the moment. Good win.

"I didn't want them to get around me. I made that mistake earlier in the day, so I wasn't going to do that in this race, but he just got there probably too soon because he was just cruising.

"But he had so much left and if he got challenged, he'd have found too.

"No reason why not to push on. He's perfect for that style of race (Moonee Valley Cup). You can put him anywhere in the run, so I'm looking forward to it."

By Andrew Eddy for Racing.com

Pics by Racing Photos