Jake Stephens has sent a warning out to Alcopop's potential rivals in the upcoming Sydney autumn carnival, saying the most improved horse in Australia in 2009 has improved even more from when he started favourite in last year's Melbourne Cup.
Alcopop steps out for the first time this campaign in the Apollo Stakes (1400m) at Rosehill on Saturday in what is a stellar field and while Stephens expects the five-year-old to take a couple of runs to hit his best this campaign, he feels he is in the best condition in his career.
"He's got a big heart. He's very smart as well. It's going to be very interesting on Saturday. Obviously it's much tougher class of horse, but first up he's got a good record," Stephens told TVN.
"Physically to me he's in better shape, he looks absolutely sensational. He's better off than he did first-up last preparation or even second-up when he won the Balaklava Cup in a record time. He just seems to be right on target."
Alcopop became the boom horse of the Melbourne spring, graduating from the Balaklava Cup to win the JRA Cup at Moonee Valley and then the Herbert Power Handicap at Caulfield.
Such was the level of interest in the South Australian gelding and the magnitude of his wins, he started $4.80 favourite in Australia's greatest race before finishing sixth.
Stephens said the experience has made the horse even better and he expects him to continue his rapid improvement this campaign on route to the BMW at Randwick.
"It's going to be a pretty rigorous campaign, every two weeks from the Apollo into the Chipping Norton into the Ranvet and then hopefully the BMW if everything goes alright," he said.
"All that travel in that last prep put him a better standing ready for this. He didn't put a stack of weight on when he was out, but at the same time I had him in a 35-acre paddock with five yearling fillies."
"Mentally when he came in, he was so happy, he was a different horse. When you are around the horse so long, you can tell what they are feeling and he just seems so much happier."
Alcopop has been in New South Wales for the better part of the fortnight, staying at Shoalhaven on the South Coast.
Stephens said the environment has been perfect and he couldn't be happier with the horse.
"The horse has settled in beautifully here. He's eating more than he did at home. He seems to have handled the humidity and all the wet and everything," he said.
"That change hasn't hurt him at all. We came two weeks ago, so he's had a good amount of time to settle in and seems to have really flourished."