In the past three years, subsequent group 1 winners Stratum Star and Ruthven and dual group 1 winning filly Don't Doubt Mama have come through the 1600 metre race, so connections of this year's winner Villermont will be hoping their very raw son of All Too Hard can follow in their footsteps.

Trained by Aaron Purcell and ridden by Luke Nolen, the colt got up late to see off the attentions of the Darren Weir-trained Peaceful State, with long-time leader and the winner's stable companion Black Sail third.

"He's all class," Nolen said. "He's had two runs on firm tracks that were probably not to his liking but they were perfect conditions today. This run will go a long way to giving him confidence."

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Ask any owner or trainer what they want in a horse and they will tell you that brilliance is an optional - albeit highly desirable - extra.

What they treasure more than anything is a horse that is tough, game, willing, genuine and consistent, a galloper that backs up regularly and tries its heart out every time.

Step forward Jungle Edge, the tough as teak gelding prepared by small-scale Cranbourne handler Mick Bell, who toughed it out and defied all-comers' attempts to run him down in the group 3 Kevin Heffernan Stakes at Sandown.

Ridden by evergreen veteran Kevin Forrester, Jungle Edge willed himself to the line to see off Casino Wizard and Thronum in a blanket finish to give Bell one of his biggest thrills in racing.

"He's a very special horse for me," Bell said. "With all I have had happen in the last year, losing my wife ... The last time we had a runner race here she was here. He doesn't know how to lose, he just doesn't like hard tracks."

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David Hayes closed the gap on Premiership-leading trainer Weir with an early double, Fanatic in the Sandown Cup and the promising Coolmore owned two-year-old Long Leaf, the first leg of a race-to-race double for rider Kerrin McEvoy, in the listed Merson Cooper Stakes for two-year-olds.

The winner may now be aimed at the Karaka Million race for juveniles in New Zealand early in the new year before the Sires Produce Stakes either in Melbourne or Sydney in the autumn.

McEvoy made it a treble when scoring in the last race aboard Gai Waterhouse's mare A Long Time Ago.