The Phillip Stokes stable has no regrets about bypassing the Adelaide Cup earlier this month, choosing instead to keep Deakin fresh for his next assignment in the Roy Higgins Quality at Flemington on Saturday.

Deakin had been the early market leader for the Group 2 Adelaide Cup (3200m), but the team opted against sending him across the border, avoiding the potential challenges of travel and recovery.

“We’re rapt,” said stable representative Shae Dinunzio.

“The price we would have paid to go there in the weather at the time, running on a 40-degree day and carrying 59 kilos in a two-mile race for the first time, the risk was greater than the reward.

“We thought it was best to keep him here and jump him out in between and follow the same recipe we did last time with him.”

Deakin last appeared in February when he secured a strong win in the Listed Torney Night Cup at Moonee Valley. With Saturday’s 2600-metre test now in focus, the stable has an even bigger goal in mind—a guaranteed spot in the Group 1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) in November.

“He worked on the training grass at Pakenham on Saturday morning and he worked super,” Dinunzio said.

“Joe Bowditch rode him and he couldn’t have been happier with him.

“If he wins the Roy Higgins, then there’s a possibility he could head to the Sydney Cup next month. But if we feel he’s not quite ready for another big race, we’ll send him to the paddock and prepare him for the Melbourne Cup.

“His jump-out on Tuesday was identical to how he performed before winning the Torney Cup. We’re rapt and couldn’t be happier.”