An eye catcher two back behind Drone , Gold Strike took a good step forward when too strong late over 1400m.

Ridden patiently towards the rear, Gold Strike wasn't favoured by the moderate tempo (25.35 first 400m), with race favourite Trapio enjoying the run of the race in the third.

Eased off the fence passing the 700m, Rodd began to click up Gold Strike, asking him to improve before peeling him the widest runner on straightening.

Let rip inside the 400m, Gold Strike began to unwind and set his sights on the leaders.

Favourite Trapio took over inside the 300m and looked all but home, before Gold Strike really knuckled down.

Still well off the former inside the 200m, Gold Strike reeled off a very slick final 200m to gun down Trapio, pulling away late to score by 0.8L.

While not a very decisive margin, when analysing the race sectionals, his win was certainly top drawer.

Although only a small sample size, Gold Strike returned the fastest 800m, 600m, 400m and 200m of the two turf races held.

Worth noting he was more than 3L faster (final 200m) than the next quickest, Super Tycoon, who won the third event.

Only lightly raced, Gold Strike has now notched up four wins from 11 starts, including two minor placings.

He returned a Timeform rating of 77 on Friday night with a hint at more to come.

The adjusted time figure was very strong for Class 4 company and there certainly appears more wins in store.

The fact he was also able to finish so fast over 1400m suggests he would be even better stepping up to a mile.

Kept on the fresh side (35 days) going into Friday's affair, expect to see him off a similar break next start and he is certainly one to follow.