ROAD TO THE CUP - WHISKY ON THE HILL.

There was plenty of confidence surrounding Whisky On The Hill as he headed to the middle day of the Caulfield carnival and the five-year-old lived up to his reputation with a gutsy performance taking out the HKJC World Pool Handicap over 2400 metres.

Fourth up into his second Australian racing campaign, the import had the right form lines - at his previous start having proven too strong for Flamin' Romans who won earlier in the Caulfield card.

Relishing the step up in distance, Whisky On The Hill settled nicely for Ethan Brown who was having his first ride on the bay and he dug deep in the run home to find the line in determined fashion.

"He is a progressive horse with a great attitude," Brown reported, adding that "he relaxed really well underneath me."

Confident that there is more to come for Whisky On The Hill, Brown noted that he "wanted to wait a bit when we got to the front."

"He will improve again out of today," he said, taken by the horse's ability "relax well and race genuinely; good attributes for a stayer."

Co-trainer Glen Thompson was pleased to see Whisky On The Hill put two wins together.

"We came here full of confidence," he said, "and he backed that up."

"We have always had a good opinion of him and we still step the bar up again; he has beaten some nice horses today."

Holding a nomination for the Melbourne Cup - the great race the stable won 24 years ago with Brew - Whisky On The Hill heads towards that famed handicap via either the Moonee Valley Cup or the Bendigo Cup.

"Before today we were leaning towards Bendigo," Thompson said, "but we will let the dust settle on today."

Bred in England by the Ninja Lady Partnership, Whisky On The Hill was secured by Ballymore Stables with Paul Moroney and Armando Duarte for 135,000gns at the 2023 Tattersalls July Sale.

"He was the horse I pinpointed at that sale," Paul Moroney said.

"I really liked his form. He was not winning at the big tracks in Ireland but it takes a reasonable sort of horse to win three in a row and I liked the way he was doing it; beating older horses carrying big weights and showing a nice turn of foot for a staying horse."

The winner of his three in a row between April and May last year (from seven northern hemisphere starts), Whisky On The Hill was trained by Adrian McGuinness. Originally a €50,000 yearling, he is a son of the multiple Group 1 winning miler Ribchester and the lightly raced Nayef mare Ninja Lady.

A half-brother to the tough and durable campaigner April Galaxy (winner of ten and 35 placed from 109 starts), Whisky On The Hill is a grandson of the Gr.1 Irish Oaks heroine Colorspin who did a fine job at stud with three Group 1 winners; Opera House, Kayf Tara and Zee Zee Top with the latter the dam of another elite level winner in Izzi Top.

There are high class horses galore in this family, one which has enjoyed success in this part of the world with Whisky On The Hill sharing the same fourth dam (the dual Gr.3 winner Reprocolor) as the dual Gr.1 winner Russian Camelot.

Breeding historians will note that this is a family that influences the breed every day; Whisky On The Hill being a descendant of the famed matriarch Scapa Flow whose sons Pharos and Fairway were both Champion Sires who have shaped racing worldwide.

A happy group of owners were on course to celebrate Whisky On The Hill's victory, including Michael and Paul's sister Sue who, with her husband Shane, flew over from New Zealand last night - making their first trip to Caulfield a very enjoyable one!