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Arapaho was perfectly ridden by jockey Rachel King, and he held off the late challengers to score in the feature Group 1 WFA Tancred Stakes (2400m) at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday.
The race was run at a slow tempo, and the gelding made a critical winning move between the 600m-400m split.
He slipped away from some of his key rivals, and Punter's Intelligence recorded he clocked 11.27 for that section.
To his credit, he maintained a strong sprint and wanted to keep finding the line.
Montefilia, who started the $4 favourite, was unlucky after becoming unbalanced, losing her momentum at the 500m mark and was also found to be lame post-race.
The mare seemed to have slipped in a soft part of the track, but she picked herself up and closed off well. Further, she clocked the race's fastest final 600m in 34.19.
The eye-catching run of the race was international raider Cleveland.
The Joseph O'Brien trained runner settled well throughout, got through his gears and hit the line hard.
He went through the line full of energy and ran his final furlong in 11.65, the race's quickest.
He is set to peak in his grand final, being the Group 1 Sydney Cup (3200m) and will get in with only 51kg.
King Frankel is ticking over well and will appreciate returning to handicap conditions.
Vow And Declare tried hard, and Gold Trip was only a tick behind Montefilia's final 600m, with him running 34.20. He is screaming out for rain-affected ground.
New Zealander Prowess was ultra-impressive in winning the Group 1 Vinery Stud Stakes (2000m), and she did it easily.
The race was run slowly, with leader Soul Choice running the first 1200m in 1:29.52.
To put that into perspective, that was approximately 17.5 lengths slower than the Group 2 Tulloch Stakes (2000m) for that section.
Although Prowess had all favours, her late visual brilliance was backed up by the clock.
She ran 11.23 for the 400m-200m split but then asserted dominance over the final furlong running, the race's quickest 200m in 11.54.
She will now go for a spell but expect her to be back on Australian soil in the spring and be a force to be reckoned with.
Pavitra was honest in defeat, and Fireburn ran home well in the inferior ground and clocked 34.54 for her final 600m.
Piersossa is on an upward trajectory and looks set to eat up 2400m in the Group 1 Australian Oaks after running the race's quickest final 200m in 11.60.
Polygon improved significantly from her first-up run and ran the race's fastest final 600m/400m sectionals in 34.17/22.81.
The Group 2 Tulloch Stakes (2000m) has been a successful lead-up race to the Group 1 Australian Derby (2400m) and, as stated previously, was run at a brutal pace.
Victor Tapildoodledo was run to suit but ran over the top of his rivals after quickening between the 400m-200m, which was the race quickest split in 11.68.
The main talking point of the event was the well-fancied Stroke Of Luck, who had no luck whatsoever.
He was blocked for most of the straight and arguably should've won.
Major Beel was brave running third after chasing the fast tempo and had to bring the field up to a tearaway leader. He is rock-hard fit and ready to step up in distance.
Awesome John was sharply up in trip, was honest after facing the breeze throughout, and is another runner set to improve.
Zeyrek was outstanding, winning the Group 2 Neville Sellwood Stakes (2000m).
He had to make a long-wide sustained run and clocked the race's fastest 600m/400m/200m splits in 33.32/22.32/11.47.
He is in career-best form and is now expected to head to the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m).
Bandersnatch can't be discounted in the upcoming Group 1 Doncaster Mile (1600m) after earning his spot in the race after a slick win in the Doncaster Prelude (1500m).
He had all favours but ran a solid 11.29 for his final 200m and will be on the quick backup with no weight.
