A brief review of Athanatos’s record was sufficient for Kerrin McEvoy to recognise he had a solid contender in the $500,000 The Coast, and that belief was confirmed as the visitor from out of town showed superior stamina.

McEvoy was riding the four-year-old for the first time, yet spotting his margin of less than two lengths when placing fourth behind Transatlantic in the Toorak Handicap (1600m) last spring convinced the top jockey that matching that performance would suffice for contention.

“I was pretty confident when I got the booking and looked at his runs,” McEvoy said.

“I gave ‘Stokesy’ (trainer Phillip Stokes) a call yesterday and he backed it up. He said, ‘he’s in good form’. “

“I got confidence out of the fact the last time he went to the mile was in the Toorak, and as we know it’s a competitive handicap, a Group One, and he wasn’t beaten far.”

Drawn midfield on Saturday, McEvoy settled Athanatos ($11) just behind the frontrunners, and the gelding accelerated sharply down the straight to collar pacemaker Sarrismo ($2.90 fav) and prevail by a length.

Grand Omaha ($51) was third, a further half-neck behind.

From Morphettville, attending the Goodwood fixture, Stokes revealed that his team had pinpointed Saturday’s The Coast (1600m) at Gosford as an ideal gauge ahead of their key target, the Five Diamonds (1800m) in Sydney later this year.

“Next prep we’re going to aim up for that,” Stokes told Racing And Sports.

“This was a big prizemoney race, and the owners will be wrapped.

“I’m getting a bit of a handle on Sydney now. It’s something we want to explore more and have more of a presence up there, so it’s important to identify horses to send up.

“He might be a horse we now have to look at Brisbane with.”

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