‘He’s doing all the right things’: Jockey Tim Clark brimming with confidence on Vauban in 2025 Tancred Stakes

Vauban burst onto the Sydney racing scene earlier this month with a stellar first-up performance to win the Group 3 Sky High Stakes (2000m) at Rosehill Gardens.

It was the first time the two-time Melbourne Cup favourite had stepped out in Australian Bloodstock colours since the syndicator forked out what was understood to be close to $2 million for him in the spring.

Trainers Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott put a mountain of work into the high-priced import to help him acclimatise to Australian racing and saw immediate results.

For Clark, it was an ominous sign of things to come.

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“I was rapt with that performance the other day, it was a very impressive win,” Clark said.

“It’s been well documented his troubles he has had previously coming out here but he seems to have acclimatised a bit.

“Even though he still got a bit warm the other day, he is looking really well and seemed like he’s acclimatised really well.

“I have been on his back a couple of times since his win and he’s doing all the right things and showing all the right signs that he has come on from that.”

Vauban ($4) will need to go up another level in the Tancred Stakes against a high quality field that features English weapon Dubai Honour ($3.20 favourite), former winner Arapaho ($6.50) and Caulfield Cup victor Duke De Sessa ($7).

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Clark sees no reason why Vauban wouldn’t be able to with a suitable step up in trip.

“He is a pretty casual horse riding him around and sort of does what he has to but you would think naturally he would take a bit of improvement from that run,” he said.

“That’s the exciting part going forward with him. For him to be able to win at 2000m knowing the form he has got.

“It’s exciting stepping out over a bit further knowing what he could achieve.”

Weather looks set to be a significant factor across the Group 1 card with up to 60mm predicted in Sydney’s west on Saturday.

“He has got pretty good form on soft and I’d imagine the tracks over there are really soft,” Clark said.

“He did work on the soft ground before he won and worked well on it so I won’t hold any fears for the ground.”

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Clark has a decent chance to claim a Group 1 double with the ride on the Glen Thompson-trained Benagil ($10) in the $750,000 Vinery Stud Stakes (2000m).

The daughter of Manhattan Rain has the difficult task of taking down Victorian boom filly Treasurethe Moment ($1.60 favourite) in the fillies feature.

Benagil has taken a different path to the Vinery after impressively taking out the VOBIS Platinum Guineas last start at Caulfield.

“She looks like she is progressing nicely,” Clark said.

“She came from back the other day and rounded them up.

“Obviously Treasurethe Moment is the yardstick and will be hard to beat but I will happy to be riding Benagil and looking forward to getting on her.

“It’s only a small field and she’s drawn well.”

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Sandpaper is among Clark’s better stakes rides on the card with the Bjorn Baker-trained galloper set to get his chance in the Group 3 $250,000 Doncaster Prelude (1500m).

The pair combined to take out the Group 3 Newcastle Stakes last start and will need to overcome a testing wide draw to repeat the dose.

“Sandpaper is having a wonderful preparation and toughed it out really well at Newcastle,” Clark said.

“He has come up with a draw that makes it a bit trickier this time and a deeper race.

“He is going to need to reproduce what he did the other day and maybe even elevate a bit again.

“You can’t deny the form the horse is in.”

• Clinton Payne’s Tancred Stakes tips, runner-by-runner form analysis

Clark is also hoping a return to Sydney with a light weight will allow smart colt Espionage to show his true colours in Saturday’s Group 3 $250,000 Star Kingdom Stakes (1200m).

Espionage enjoyed an excellent two-year-old season but has endured a rollercoaster three-year-old campaign that has seen him restricted to just two starts without a win.

He had been in the running to feature in owner James Harron’s slot in The Everest but missed the entire spring after requiring surgery to address a tibial bone sequestrum.

The brilliant son of Zoustar has campaigned in Melbourne in the early part of the autumn with a pair of unplaced runs in the Group 1 Oakleigh Plate at Caulfield and Group 1 Newmarket Handicap at Flemington.

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“He has run some good races, drew awkwardly in an Oakleigh Plate where he was off the track a bit but both runs have been sound,” Clark said.

“He didn’t look like he suited Caulfield from a wide draw and the other day down the straight at Flemington he looked a bit at sea.

“Maybe coming back to Sydney, going this way of going with a light weight (53kg) will suit him.

“He has always been a horse that has shown talent and is still lightly-raced and learning. He can bounce back.”

• Clinton Payne’s Vinery Stud Stakes tips, runner-by-runner form analysis

Espionage was scratched from Friday’s barrier trials to have his first run in Sydney in close to a year.

He is already a two-time winner at Group 3 level with victories in the Breeders’ Plate and Kindergarten Stakes during his two-year-old season.

Coolmore bought into the talented colt at the beginning of last spring as a future stallion prospect.

Bookies rate Espionage as a $8.50 contender for the Star Kingdom with last start Abell Stakes winner Brudenell and The Galaxy placegetter Uncommon James equal $6 favourites.

Clark is vying for his second victory in the Star Kingdom Stakes after first winning the race aboard the Jason Coyle-trained Siren’s Fury in 2019.

Originally published as ‘He’s doing all the right things’: Jockey Tim Clark brimming with confidence on Vauban in 2025 Tancred Stakes