The past year has been a whirlwind for Dominic Sutton, who went from assistant trainer to Group 1-winning trainer in what feels like the blink of an eye.

After spending years working alongside Leon and Troy Corstens, Sutton struck out on his own just over 12 months ago, and success came swiftly.

Feroce gave him a string of firsts—his first winner, his first metro success, and most recently, his first elite-level triumph in the Australian Guineas.

Detroit City has also been a key player for Sutton, giving him his first Flemington victory. Now, the three-year-old has a chance to deliver another milestone for the trainer in Saturday’s Group 2 Alister Clark Stakes (2040m) at Moonee Valley.

To give Detroit City an edge, Sutton took him for a gallop at The Valley to reacquaint him with the track ahead of race day.

“He’s run here before, and he handled it well last time,” Sutton said.

Last spring, Detroit City wrapped up his first campaign with a strong fourth in the Group 2 Stutt Stakes (1600m) at the same venue.

If all goes to plan on Saturday, Sutton hopes to take Detroit City to Sydney for the Group 1 Australian Derby (2400m) at Randwick next month.

“This race will tell us a lot about whether he’s ready for that kind of distance,” Sutton said.

“I’ve always felt he profiles as a horse who could stay further, but he’ll need to prove it here first.”

Sutton is also happy to put a line through Detroit City’s most recent run in the Australian Guineas, where he finished third-last.

“That race wasn’t really the right fit for him, but we needed to get a run into him,” Sutton explained.

“Hopefully, that has him primed to fire this weekend.”