Shanghai Warrior took a major step toward a Group One spring with an impressive win in today’s Group Three Aurie’s Star Handicap (1200m) at Flemington.

Prepared by former champion jockey Pat Hyland, Shanghai Warrior made it back to back Flemington wins when he finished too well for the favourite Golden Archer to win by a widening one length margin.

Hyland said the highly promising galloper would be set for the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes and he didn’t rule out a crack at the Cox Plate in October.

“This horse has got some real ability,” Hyland said of Shanghai Warrior.

“You’ll see the best of him a bit later on when he gets over more ground. These are just the preliminaries.”

“I ride him in all his work and I’ll keep doing it.”

“All my good horses I ride myself and I picked this one out as a good one a long time ago,” Hyland added.

Shanghai Warrior is being set for the Group One Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield in late September and before then he would most likely stick to the straight six track at Flemington.

“He won’t go around a corner until then, but it won’t be a problem.”

Purchased for $68,000 from the Patinack Farm draft at the 2009 Magic Millions National Weanling Sale, Shanghai Warrior is the seventh stakes winner by his globetrotting sire Elvstroem.

He is one of six winners, from eight to race, for the two-year-old winning Rory’s Jester mare Emily Blue.

A half sister to the stakes placegetter Acrisius and the dam of stakes winner Perfect Feeling, Emily Blue is the dam of the Melbourne winner In Need I Am – dam of recent stakes performed juvenile How Swede it Is.

Winner: Shanghai Warrior
Race: VRC Aurie’s Star Handicap G3 (1200m)
Breeding: Elvstroem-Emily Blue (Rory’s Jester)
Sold for: $68,000
Sale: 2009 Magic Millions National Weanling Sale
Vendor: Patinack Farm
Buyer: Supreme Thoroughbreds
Earnings: $224,213
Owner(s): NR Hildebrand, RP McCann, GN Harris, IF Foster, TC Foster, JF Hardwick, M Yu, R Smith, AG Zoanetti & Mrs ME Hyland
Trainer: Pat Hyland (Cranbourne)