Mourinho turned in the best performance of his career in winning the Group 2 Jeep Australia Stakes.

If the weight for age races don’t get any stronger, and that it is possible, he could become the star of the autumn.

While our Melbourne racing is very competitive and our sprinters are dominant, there is little above that level, our weight for age racing will continue to suffer.

This is not entirely a local issue, it is national one, and there is no quick fix, it is going to take time to swing the pendulum in the opposite direction.

Our Derby winners are not going on, the only two classic winners in the last 20 years to go to the next level have been Efficient and Elvstroem.

In former years the Derby winner was a force to be reckoned with in the following spring, that has now become a rarity.

Our weight for age racing is likely to suffer further with the increased prize money on offer for the Championships in Sydney, there will be less visiting horses coming to Melbourne.

Whether Mourinho can win some of the better weight for age races leading in the autumn remains to be seen, that was his first run since the Mackinnon Stakes on Derby day, therefore
further improvement would be expected.

As for Dissident the jury is out, he was disappointing in the Australia Stakes after being ridden hard all the way, he gave little in the straight.

He will need to improve rapidly as he has been sold for quite a few million, if he doesn’t improve on what we saw at Moonee Valley he will soon depreciate in value as he goes to stud next season.

Mourinho winning the Jeep Australia Stakes