Awesome Rock (Aus) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) was a surprise winner of the G2 Dato Tan Chin Nam S. at Moonee Valley on Saturday with his victory guaranteeing him a berth in next month's G1 Cox Plate. Leon and Troy Corsten's 5-year-old was an unconsidered 30/1 shot but that didn't stop him beating fellow outsiders Real Love (Aus) (Desert King {Ire}) and Set Square (Aus) (Reset {Aus}) in the mile contest. “We've had him in the Cox Plate all the way through but he needed to do something like that for us to take the next step and have a real crack at it,” Troy Corstens told Racing And Sports. “The goalposts have changed a little. We were thinking of the [G1] Mackinnon Stakes but we'll probably shift it back and have a crack at the Cox Plate now. We've got a golden ticket now.” Though out of form in his last two starts Awesome Rock previously showed his class with a win in the G1 Australian Cup, only to be demoted to second for causing interference. Corstens hopes Saturday's win will lead on to greater things for the colt and added, “He's been so immature. He's gone from being a boy to becoming a man and now that he's done something like that he can now go on and show what he's got.”
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