Irish jockey John Allen has made a huge impression in the years since he arrived in Australia as a jumps rider looking to kickstart a career that had stalled back home.
If you are not riding for Willie Mullins or Gordon Elliot, life can be difficult for jumps jockeys in Ireland as those trainers monopolise most of the races and winners.
So the Cork-born jockey took the plunge and moved to the other side of the world, where he got a job with Darren Weir just as the champion trainer was on the cusp of becoming the juggernaut that he now is.
Initially Allen rode the stable's steeplechasers and hurdlers, but as he rode more horses in work and in races, his weight began to drop. Now he rides his fair share of flat horses as well as all Weir's jumpers.
And one flat horse that surely has a special place in Allen's memory is the freewheeling three-year-old Cliff's Edge, with whom he has been closely associated throughout the eight runs of the colt's career.
The pair combined at Caulfield on Saturday to take out the $250,000 Ladbrokes Classic over 2000 metres. They made all the running and defied the efforts of all others to run them down once Allen had got him into a steady rhythm, dictating affairs at the head of the eight -strong field.
In the end, the son of Canford Cliffs had nearly three lengths to spare over his closest pursuers, headed by the Sydney-trained Tangled from the Chris Waller stable.
Allen's biggest flat success in Australia came earlier this year when he won the SA Derby for Weir on Volatile Mix, but the Irishman will now be hoping to top that when Cliff's Edge goes for the Victoria Derby, a $1.5 million prize, in two weeks.
He might be by a horse who was most effective at a mile (English stallion Canford Cliffs once was fancied by some to beat Frankel when the pair met at Goodwood in the Sussex Stakes of 2011) but the Victoria Derby is a race that is sometimes won by the best horse, not necessarily the best stayer, as the pace does not always make it a brutal stamina test.
Given Cliffs Edge's racing style, Allen could get to the front early and dictate his own fractions: if left alone to set his preferred pace, he could be hard to run down, even over 500 metres further at the big Flemington expanses.
Weir said he would go for the Derby but was unsure as to whether he might take in The Vase at the Valley next Saturday..
Allen said Cliff's Edge gave him a much better feel this time than when he was beaten last start at Flemington.
"He didn't really fire up the last time at Flemington but today he switched off beautiful and we were able to get it soft up the hill. Once we got to the 800 metres, we increased the tempo," Allen said.
"I knew when I gave him a squeeze at the 600 metres, he came right up underneath me, we had plenty left there and did it with a bit of ease.
"We'd love it if the Derby was around here and not Flemington, but he's improved every start, gone from strength to strength, so whatever he does next, he'll be a nice colt."
Weir added: "He's got a great racing style and when you can train them like we do at home, the soundness of the horse [is important] to be able to make him tough, he copes with the work really well.
"That's why he loves bowling along out in front and relaxes so well.
"The [last] run definitely toughened him up. I suppose you've got to have a throw at the stumps [the Derby] the way he went today. The main thing is that he pulls up well. We'll have a look at the horse and decide from there, I guess."
It was not all smiles for the jockey, however, as Allen copped an 11-meeting suspension for causing interference during the race. He will be available to take the Derby mount, however.
