When John O'Shea started at Darley, it was a case of finding out what was going to work for what horses and Generalife has answered the call to a change in style.
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The rising five-year-old chalked up the hat-trick of wins – a second in listed company – in the Winter Stakes at Rosehill on Saturday.
Generalife was a last-start winner when O'Shea took over the reins from Peter Snowden, however, Darley's new head man went back to Generalife's only defeat for him, when third at Randwick in May, to explain what helped make him a better racehorse.
"When I arrived I had to work out what was going to keep going under my style and what wasn't," O'Shea said. "There are plenty that didn't, but he certainly has.
"I can remember that run at Randwick, I put James [McDonald] on him and told him to hunt him out of the barriers and make him a racehorse. He had been settling a bit further back under Peter [Snowden].
"James roared him out of the gates and he got overracing, but since he has just put himself into the race and he has thrived."
Generalife once again took up the box seat in the Winter Stakes, one out one back, and when Kerrin McEvoy called on him in the straight he sprinted clear to score by 1-1/4 lengths from Romantic Moon, with a neck to Scream Machine in third.
O'Shea will give Generalife a let-up before targeting other 1400-metre races, and says his new-found style could be suited to a Stradbroke.
"He is gangly, late maturing Lonhro that is going to better with more time," O'Shea said. "There might be a race for him in Melbourne and he could be the sort of horse to go to Dubai because of his rating.
"What we have learnt is he is definitely a lot more effective on top of the ground and he likes Rosehill Gardens.
"If he can get a fast-run, seven-furlong race somewhere, he could pick up a nice race."
Generalife is starting to live up to the early thoughts of him at Darley and McEvoy put it down to maturity and being able to settle closer to the speed.
"I suppose he's getting a bit older and some horses gain confidence with winning form," he said. "He could sometimes settle a bit slow, which would get him back and put him in awkward positions, but now he's retaining a spot and it's helping him to win races.
"He's been consistent all the way through to when Pete had him at Hawkesbury where he was only being narrowly beaten, so full credit to the horse."
Generalife's turn of foot took Christian Reith by surprise on runner-up Romantic Moon, which he thinks is going to need further. "I followed the winner but when it went I couldn't go with it," Reith said. "She has only got a short sprint and the race was over before I could push the button on her. The way she is racing she might be looking for a mile."
Scream Machine was looking for runs through the field from near last and will step up to 1500m next start. "It was always going to be hard the way the race was going to be run and giving the winner a couple of kilos," trainer Jason Coyle said. "He finished it off really well but he might be looking to get back to the mile."
