Metal Bender's stranglehold on the three-year-old triple crown has loosened slightly after he drew barrier 14 of 16 in the final leg, the AJC Australian Derby at Randwick.
Most bookmakers promoted Rosehill Guineas runner-up Sousa to outright favourite after he drew barrier one in Saturday's Classic with ACTTAB Sportsbet posting him at $4.20 and Metal Bender at $4.60 for the 2400m feature.
Prior to the draw both were equal at $4.
Sousa ran seventh in the Randwick Guineas (1600m) before his half-head second in the Rosehill Guineas (2000m) and trainer Peter Snowden said the colt was primed to give Sheikh Mohammed his first Derby winner in Australia.
''The 2400m is a bit of a query but it's the same for all of them,'' Snowden said.
''You never really know until you put them over it and he is bred to go the distance.''
Sousa, who is by 2001 Epsom Derby winner Galileo, gave Snowden and Sheikh Mohammed their first Group1 as a team when he took out the Spring Champion Stakes (2000m) in October on a wet Randwick track.
After he ran fifth to Whobegotyou in the AAMI Vase (2040m) the decision was made not to press on to the Victoria Derby (2500m) won by Rebel Raider.
Whobegotyou ran second to Rebel Raider whose lacklustre form in the Randwick and Rosehill guineas has ended his autumn.
A setback a couple of months ago also altered plans for Whobegotyou, who is now headed to the Doncaster Mile on Saturday week with trainer Mark Kavanagh to rely on Dr Doute's instead.
While Sousa claimed his Group1 on a slow track, Snowden said that did not mean it was what he needed.
''He is not just a wet tracker, he just handles it better than some of the others,'' he said.
Those were also the sentiments of trainers Bjorn Baker and John Sargent who have produced a couple of latecomers in Harris Tweed (barrier two, $8) and Old Jock (barrier 15, $31).
Baker, who trains in partnership with his father Murray, claimed the Derby a year ago with Nom Du Jeu, who beat the Sargent-trained Red Ruler in the wet.
Harris Tweed earned his Derby spot with a half-length win in Saturday's Tulloch Stakes (2000m) over Dr Doute's with Old Jock a long neck away third.
''We've always thought a lot of him,'' Bjorn Baker said.
''He's always been a sweet-moving horse, not totally dissimilar to Nom Du Jeu. They just glide across the ground effortlessly.
''Because he won on a heavy track a lot of people might think he's just a wet tracker, which I don't think is the case and it wasn't the case with Nom Du Jeu either as we saw in the Caulfield Cup on a rock-hard track.''
Like Nom Du Jeu, who ran second to All The Good at Caulfield, Harris Tweed is by Montjeu as is Old Jock and trainer David Payne's two Derby runners Naval Escort and Buccaneers Prize who are both outsiders.
AUSTRALIAN sprint hero Takeover Target showed trainer Joe Janiak he was spot-on for Saturday week's TJ Smith Stakes with an all-the-way barrier trial victory at Warwick Farm yesterday.
Torrential rain at his Coffs Harbour base in northern NSW forced Janiak to bring the champion to Sydney earlier than planned for his build-up to the 1200m Group1 race at Randwick.
Ridden by regular jockey Jay Ford, Takeover Target defeated Lost Oscar by two lengths in heat seven over 800m in a time of 47.5sec, the fastest heat of the morning.
The nine-year-old landed win No19 last start in the Group3 Scahill Stakes in Perth in a performance which took his earnings past $5.5million from 37 starts. AAP