Punch Lane continues to impress with his durability, making it three runs in as many weeks and scoring another convincing win in Saturday’s Hawkesbury Gold Cup (1600m).

Following a dominant victory at Randwick the previous Saturday, the Freedman-trained gelding handled the heavy 8 surface with ease, taking up the lead early under Nash Rawiller and never letting it go, defeating Osipenko ($9) by 1-1/4 lengths, with My Oberon ($14) a clear third.

Rawiller was full of praise for Punch Lane’s consistency and determination.

“He is tough as nails, the horse,” Rawiller said.

“It has been a great training effort, three weeks in a row, not many can do that. He has come here today and was first out of the gates and first into the bridle.

“You’d expect him to be half not wanting to be here but he was better than last time.

“He gave me a better ride going around to the gates today and probably during the race.”

Punch Lane’s recent campaign began with a fourth behind Sandpaper over 1400m on April 19, followed by a four-length romp in a Randwick benchmark 1500m contest. His adaptability to wet tracks made Hawkesbury a natural next step.

Stable representative Shane Hourigan said Punch Lane’s straightforward nature makes him ideal for such campaigns.

“This is his third time backing up, three weeks in a row, and he seemed to be better this time even again,” Hourigan said.

“It wasn’t an afterthought and he is probably the right horse to do it with. He just does his work, eats, pulls out in the morning and goes again.”

The Hawkesbury Cup victory has secured a potential spot for Punch Lane in the Big Dance later this year, with plans already forming around a spring campaign.