Melbourne Cup winning jockey Jye McNeil has described Semillion a professional after his debut win at The Valley.
The Hawkes Racing-trained youngster took out the Inglis Banner (1000m) on Saturday in an effort that had his jockey excited for the future.
Jumping smartly and controlling the 1000m scamper for two-year-olds, Semillion ($12) recorded a two-length win over Lady Harlem ($10) with Nobel ($6.50) a length away third.
“He’s the ultimate professional is the best way to describe him,” McNeil said.
“He knew what he had to do today and he put himself in the best possible position and acquitted himself really well.
“And he’s got the ability to match.”
Wayne Hawkes, in charge of the Melbourne stable, entered Saturday’s confident the son of Shalaa would acquit himself well.
He said the colt had shown good speed from the barriers in his jump-outs at Flemington.
“We were quietly confident and one thing we know is that it is a restricted race and so it doesn’t have the homebreds and the Magic Millions horses being an Inglis race,” Hawkes said.
“If you think you can win you know you don’t have all the opposition like in a Maribyrnong (Stakes) or something like that.
“He did a really job and he flew the start. He wasn’t in a hurry to get to the front, he just took his time and it was a really good ride.”
But Hawkes said it was unlikely the colt would be seen in action at Flemington during the Melbourne Cup Carnival.
“This is the end of the prep,” Hawkes said.
“He’s strong in the shoulder and he’s strong in behind but he’s quite narrow in the middle, so I reckon after winning a $400,000 race on Cox Plate Day, he’s earned a break.”