Grinzinger Star proves giant killer

Mr Quickie's winning streak was halted at Caulfield as the heavily supported odds-on favourite was run down in the final stride by Danny O'Brien's highly promising Grinzinger Star.

Mr Quickie was aiming for his seventh-straight victory and as a result was forced to carry 6kg more than his rivals, which told at the finish according to apprentice rider Ethan Brown.

"I can't fault his performance and I've got no excuses with the run I had," Brown said.

"He tried hard, he did everything I asked and kicked at the right time, I'm putting it down to the weight he has had to carry.

"He had 6kg more than the rest of the field, I think that was the difference."

Grinzinger Star travelled on the back of Mr Quickie in the run and surged late under the urgings of Linda Meech to win the race by a short half-head.

Grinzinger Star could head on a South Australian or Queensland campaign but whether he steps back up to a Derby distance remains to be seen after being unplaced in the Victoria Derby last spring.

"We've still got question marks over whether he ran the trip strongly (in the Derby)," O'Brien's assistant trainer Ben Gleeson said.

"His distance is looking ideally around the 2000 metre mark.

"He has come on a lot since his first-up run and Linda rode him beautifully today.

"She followed Mr Quickie beautifully, presented him at the right time and he has been strong to the line."

Gleeson said the son of Reliable Man will be seen next at Caulfield over 2000m in a fortnight.

Meech was impressed with the three-year-old's performance.

"I had a good feeling I got there, it didn't lay down the second horse, it had a big weight and mine only had a little weight and I was hoping I was going to get him the whole way down the straight," Meech said.

"I thought I was going to win easier than I did, to the second horse's credit he dug deep.

"Weight stops trains, the other horse had a lot and this horse had none.

"It is nice to ride a winner for Danny, that should keep him happy."

Mr Quickie's trainer Phillip Stokes said he will bring his talented three-year-old back to Caulfield in three weeks and take on older opposition.

"We are still very proud of his efforts, 60kg is a lot of weight," he said.

"In fairness to the horse, he has had two hard runs at Flemington and Mornington.

"I am very happy we have now got three weeks to his next run and then two weeks after that to the Derby.

"He will race here against older horses in a 2000-metre restricted race where he will get in better at the weights and that will top him off nicely for the Derby."

Story by Brent Zerafa for Racing.com & AAP

Pic by Racing Photos