"He's been competing at this level for five years, he's an amazing horse. He's just got a good vibe about him, " Boss said.

"This is an important race for the spring and it's an important one for me, too. It's been a long time between drinks for me in a group1."

Boss waited as long as possible before asking Foreteller for the ultimate effort as he prevailed by a half-head over Happy Trails, while leader Crackerjack King held on for third a length away.

"You've got to sneak up on him. He can be a trick to ride, but he's a pleasure to ride," Boss said.

Waller's Melbourne forewoman Justine Hales confirmed a second tilt at the Cox Plate was on. He ran fourth in the Cox Plate last year and will be out to emulate Super Impose, which won the weight-for-age championship as an eight-year-old in 1992. Ocean Park in 2012 was the last horse to complete the Underwood Stakes-Cox Plate double.

Happy Trails, runner-up in last year's Cox Plate, was on track for a repeat,  jockey Michael Rodd said.

"He ran fantastic in this race last year [when fourth] and he's done it again," he said.

Crackerjack King ($51) put in a remarkable run after Michael Walker took the imported galloper to the front and plotted a path no closer than eight horses off the fence. "The ground is no good on the fence and I wanted to look after him," he said. "He's done two tendons, so I didn't want to hurt him with the Cox Plate coming up."

Silent Achiever, the $3.40 favourite, ran fifth and peaked on her run, rider Damien Oliver said.

The dominant force of the autumn in Ellerslie and Sydney this year with a hat-trick of group1 wins, Silent Achiever has a less imposing record on Melbourne tracks after one win from eight starts.