The Big Dance the mission for Gosford Cup 2025 winner

Les Vampires secured his spot in the Big Dance with a dominant display in the Gosford Gold Cup (2100m), bringing up a memorable win for trainers Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott on Saturday.

His victory not only earned automatic qualification into the $3 million Randwick feature on Melbourne Cup day but also marked his first success at Listed level. The four-year-old now heads for a well-earned break ahead of a likely spring campaign.

“I’m not sure how far we want to go now. We’ve got the ticket to the Big Dance and he is pretty deep into the campaign so we’ll be working back from having that feature somewhere in his program next time in,” Bott said.

“We’ve seen he can be effective early in the campaign, sharp over that trip and I think he’d be well placed in a race like that. Importantly, he’s qualified and there is some big money on offer so it’s got to be under consideration.”

Les Vampires missed the 2023 spring due to a throat issue but returned in career-best form this prep, peaking with his Gosford Gold Cup success — a race Waterhouse first won in 1991 with Moods.

The gelding started $2.90 betting favourite and justified the support, finding plenty in the straight after being tested mid-race by Touristic. He pulled away late to win by over a length from Etna Rosso, with Mr Waterville in third.

“It has never been big margins but today he was really able to put them away well over this trip so it has opened up a few more options for him going forward,” Bott added.

Winona Costin was full of praise for the gelding after guiding him to the biggest win of his career.

“I was only just starting to slowly amp it up and doing things under my own terms when one (Touristic) whipped around us and it put me in a tricky spot,” Costin said.

“But credit to the horse, he had nice acceleration and I was able to kick up and hold it out and keep momentum going all the way to the line.”

With Group targets looming later in the year, punters can keep track of Les Vampires and other Big Dance qualifiers by visiting our top-rated betting sites for early markets and exclusive promotions.