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The Godolphin stable is counting on progressive three-year-old Old North to give them a third contender for next week’s Australian Derby by winning the final lead-up race to the classic at Rosehill on Saturday.

Trainer John O’Shea already has Tally and Etymology primed to start in the $2 million BMW Derby (2400m) on the first day of The Championships on Saturday week and will add Old North to the list if he wins Saturday’s G2 Tulloch Stakes (2000m).

"Old North’s performance on Saturday will decide whether we go on to the Derby with him,” O’Shea said.

“He's done well since his last run and there's a good chance he'll run the 2400m of the Derby.”

Old North, by Lonhro from the classy Elusive Quality mare Bernicia, steps up to 2000m for the first time on Saturday after showing considerable raw talent winning two of his first five starts up to 1500m.

He followed a midweek win over 1400m at Warwick Farm with a last start fourth in the G2 Phar Lap Stakes (1500m) at Rosehill when he finished hard late to be less than a long neck from the winner Hattori Hanzo in a blanket finish.

Old North will again meet Hattori Hanzo and Phar Lap Stakes second Man Of Choice in the Tulloch Stakes, a race that boasts a strong record as a reliable guide to the outcome of the Derby since it was first run in 1973.

While only five horses have won the Tulloch Stakes/Derby double since 1973 (Prolific; Durbridge; Mahogany; Ivory’s Wish; Starcraft), six of the last 11 Tulloch Stakes winners have backed up the following week to finish second in the Derby.

If Old North can win the Tulloch Stakes he will leapfrog Tally, the last start winner of the G2 Alister Clark Stakes at Moonee Valley on March 18, as the top Derby hope from the Godolphin stable.

Tally, by Street Cry and boasting a much stouter staying pedigree than Old North, has won four races in succession up to 2040m since resuming in January and promises to be a stern Derby rival for the three-year-olds who have come through the Rosehill Guineas led by the Victoria Derby winer Tarzino.

Etymology, runner-up to Tarzino in the G1 Victoria Derby (2500m) at Flemington in the spring, ran an even race to finish sixth in the Rosehill Guineas on March 19 at his third run since resuming.

He is a typical staying type who will have his Derby chances boosted by a rain-affected surface as he boasts a win and three placings from four starts on soft tracks.