Upgrading enjoyed a trouble-free run, thundering home to win the Class Three Haven Handicap over the 1,650m at Happy Valley on Wednesday with some authority for trainer Andreas Schutz and appears to have room to head higher in the ratings.
Arriving in the Peter Ho Leung stable last season off a mark of 86 from Britain, Upgrading took more than a few runs to acclimatise, but turned the corner at his eighth outing when stepping up to the mile for the first time in his Happy Valley debut in mid-March.
He was given a patient ride by Gerald Mosse before turning on the jets to get within a half-length third of Absolute Hedge at 40-1 odds.
He ended his season on April 18 on a sour note when a badly held-up ninth as the race favourite under Douglas Whyte and soon changed stables to Schutz (pictured).
Expertly prepared for his return on September 8 over the Valley mile, lightning struck once again as he was badly baulked for a run behind Fun Rider as the second favourite for Whyte.
With Whyte jumping ship for the short-priced favourite Fun Rider this time, Schutz called upon Olivier Doleuze and removed the blinkers. He was given a quiet time behind midfield, angled six wide at the head of the straight before accelerating through a gaping hole to hit the front 150m out and maintain a comfortable advantage of three-quarters to the line on Mark Up, with Fun Rider a distant third.
Upgrading had shown promise in two runs as a juvenile under the tutelage of trainer Brian Meehan for a win in a 17-runner race over the 1,400m at Newbury, before chalking up a distant second behind Ashram in the Somerville Tattersalls Stakes (G3) over 1,400m.