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The Melbourne Cup favourite still has "three lengths of improvement"
Connor Scanlon • September 28th, 2025 8:59 pm
Equal Melbourne Cup favourite Sir Delius has started his preparation excellently, winning the Group 1 SEN Underwood Stakes (1800m) and running second in the Group 2 Chelmsford (1600m).
But the Gai Waterhouse trained import may not even be at his peak fitness yet.
Expert yard analyst Nick Noonan observed Sir Delius in the mounting yard prior to his SEN Underwood Stakes victory and came to an exciting conclusion.
The equal Melbourne Cup favourite still has plenty of improvement to come this preparation.
“The key runner from the last couple weeks of racing was Sir Delius,” Noonan told SENTrack and RSN’s Lay Back with Betfair.
“He looks like a horse that’s still got at least two or three lengths of improvement, from a yard point of view.
“Gai usually has them pretty cranked up, but I think she’s definitely left something in the tank there.
“Him and Buckaroo, they look the same, they’re just gonna peak – Buckaroo in the Caulfield Cup and Sir Delius in the Cox Plate or Melbourne Cup.”
Even after winning the SEN Underwood Stakes, Noonan admitted that Sir Delius was extremely classy and intelligent when returning to his stable following the victory.
“Sir Delius over the last few weeks, I loved him as a type,” Noonan said.
“He looks like a very intelligent horse.
“Even seeing him after the Underwood, he was having a good look around at things.
“He’s got a lot of class about him, and I think he’s got at least two or three lengths to come, which is probably what he needs to do to win a Cox Plate.
“He definitely can improve.”
