Harry Eustace in dreamland after Sea King triumphs in Bendigo Cup

The five-year-old was making his debut for Eustace in the Bendigo Group Three having previously raced for Sir Mark Prescott in Britain, with his 18 starts encompassing five wins and a notable sixth in the Ebor last time out.

Subsequently purchased by OTI Racing and sent to Eustace, Sea King was well supported for the 12-furlong contest, with jockey Declan Bates riding with supreme confidence, allowing Sea King to stride on round the field approaching the turn for home before pulling well clear in the straight.

Eustace and OTI Racing teamed up to finish fifth with Docklands in last Saturday’s Cox Plate and the trainer was delighted to see travelling companion Sea King sparkle on his Australian bow.

“It’s incredibly exciting. A lot was riding on it, it’s the last win-and-you’re-in (spot) for the Cup, so it’s an absolute dream result today,” Eustace told www.racing.com.

“I’d just like to thank (OTI’s) Terry (Henderson) in particular, he managed to buy this horse just before Docklands travelled down as well and it’s proving a pretty inspired purchase.

“Curiously, coming down, we never even thought we’d get close (to a Cup Spot) and, of course, since we’ve been here the Cup, as everyone is well aware, has really started cutting up, so the closer we got to getting in, the more pressure there was I suppose.”

Eustace also praised the winning jockey, adding: “It was just a beautiful ride from Dec Bates.

“We picked him because hopefully he’d understand the European style and it wouldn’t be a sit and sprint.

“It (the mid-race move) felt like it was quite a long way out, but I was very keen to impress on him that he was more of a typical European-type horse and he’s going to work his way into it.

“He took me at my word and it came off today.”

Impressive Cox Plate victor Via Sistina had been towards the head of the Melbourne Cup betting, but owner Yulong Investments has decided to bypass the two-mile Flemington highlight in favour of sticking at 10 furlongs for the Champions Stakes on Saturday week.

“We would desperately love to win a Melbourne Cup and we’ve probably got the best chance we’re ever going to have,” said Yulong’s general manager Vin Cox.

“But at the end of the day, the ultimate goal wasn’t the Melbourne Cup, it was the Cox Plate.

“The Melbourne Cup was then a bit of an afterthought, rather than the primary motivator and afterthoughts tend not to end well on a racetrack.

“We all had to get our feet back on the ground, take all the emotion out of it and look at it analytically.”