Ocean Park got his boarding pass clicked to go to Dubai then Great Britain after easily beating (as he should) the line up he faced today at G1 under WFA over 2000m. He had to beat this field as most are either not 2000m gallopers at G1 under WFA against all comers or have not won for a long time or are no good clockwise. It was a soft-kill for confidence but much needed as his resumption fourth of five at Otaki was either under-done arrogance or an enormous worry and his workload surely got increased tenfold since. Hopefully he has not been cooked for this as coming back to 1800m at Meydan will contain surely at least some middle distance performers of note although left-handed is a big tick for Ocean Park. No conspiracy theories or journalistic bias book recommendations to read and believe as in Dubai they have no betting on their races! The time of 2:02.48 is the second best time clocked for this race since it got moved to this last day of Auckland Cup week date with Vosne Romanee in 2011 clocking 2:01.62 on what seemed a bionic track that day. The third quickest time is 2:02.49 for Sir Slick, which is a multiple G1 winner in New Zealand that never ever fired a shot in Australia even in the bush and is not considered a serious line in the sand. This race saw the second and third placegetters in Veyron and Better Than Ever try hard but they are not genuine 2000m horses but certainly serious G1 sprinter-milers. Veyron is a miler period and Better Than Ever was having his first ever clockwise run today plus got ridden cold when a natural leader/on pacer so the stable had middle distance reservations too. Alegrio is a handicapper so finishing fourth at G1 under WFA is another red flag for form worth of the race plus his trainer has never won a race at the highest level after a long time of trying. Artistic won at G1 as a 3yo filly so you either measure up against the older horses or not so the form is often irrelevant. She is better ridden quieter early. Shuka has never won at Ellerslie and is not a G1 WFA horse so getting fifth after being checked badly the first turn is more proof the race overall has a suspect look about it. Shootoff was used early and battling turning for home plus he has not won since the G1 Queensland Derby, which kind of sums up why this race was nowhere near as strong as many falsely believed or wished. Asavant got found out but clockwise a possible issue and the directional problem also applies to Dolmabache and Nashville that finished second last and last. Nashville was awful after blowing away Ocean Park left-handed at G1 under WFA at Otaki plus Veyron and Better Than Ever (second and third today). He is not a right-hander and may be just a sprinter-miler like almost all here but until he has a crack at 2000m left-handed we cannot confirm the latter with any certainty. Ocean Park beat these easily and so he should but he does hit that flat spot still halfway up the run home. He had full bore momentum when passing Veyron but did not gap him until it weakened (not being a true middle distance galloper) so his class counted and being a G1 Cox Plate winner at 2040m showed through. Notably too was a sire quinella to the now defunct Thorn Park. Winning form is the best state to make a Meydan date with in the rich Dubai Duty Free.