In the hands of co-trainer Scott Phelan, Kobe Bryant showed all the magic of his NBA namesake by stacking the small field up and sprinting home to win untouched by five lengths.

Phelan said after the event that the win, which equaled his previous biggest win in the same race two years ago with Big Dog, was all too easy, and he really was just a passenger.

“It was all very easy, he was just a bit too good for them.”

Asked why the son of Presidential Ball had not raced until now, Phelan identified his late birth and rangy scope as the main contributor.

“He’s a pretty big horse and has taken time but we knew he’d be ready for this race.”

Phelan said the pressure of training for the ownership module that had seen monsterous success in recent seasons with the likes of Changeover, Awesome Armbro and Tintin In America, was not lost on he or senior training partner Barry Purdon.

“They’re having a good run, I might have to take a share in the next one myself,” he said.

Kobe Bryant will now head out for a six-week spell before being targeted for resumption around Christmas time and will miss the rich Sires Stakes Series in October and November.

Second home in the race was the red-hot favourite Eye For An Eye from the Mark Purdon and Grant Payne stable, while another southerner in Highbeam Rusty got up for third.

Garrick Knight