If there’s one thing trainer David Payne is confident about with the little-raced War Ribbon, it’s that the gelding will handle races over a Derby distance.

Payne hopes to run War Ribbon in the Group 1 Victoria Derby for three-year-olds on Saturday at Flemington, if he can qualify.

War Ribbon was among 22 nominations taken for the Derby on Monday, but is 20th in the voting order with a limit of 16 plus four emergencies.

Payne said he had had the $2 million 2,500m Stay Test for recent 2,260m Newcastle Class 1 race winner in mind for months.

“Well, he’ll definitely stay on the trip, which a lot of them don’t,” Payne said of War Ribbon.

“He’s going to stay all day, so that’s why we’re going (to the Derby). And he’s a horse that can keep up, which helps.”

War Ribbon ran five times and took his first victory on his last start when going beyond 2000m for the first time.

On his previous start he finished second to Victoria Derby hopeful Tenbury Wells over 2000m in another Grade 1 at Kembla Grange, but Payne believes a seven-week gap between races also played a part this that day.

“The race against Tenbury Wells, he needed it because I gave him a bit of a spell,” Payne said.

“Then at Newcastle he got ahead of them and he was running with older horses as a maiden, so that was a pretty impressive win.”

Payne bought War Ribbon a yearling for $35,000 and the trainer knew early on that he was likely to do well.

“He was always a big, strong horse and once we put him to work we could see he was going to stay,” he said.

Payne won a Victoria Derby, when the former Ace High stable star proved too classy for his rivals and won by two lengths in 2017.

Ace High, however, had shown his class at the top of the Derby with victories in the G3 Gloaming Stakes and G1 Spring Champion Stakes at Sydney in his two previous starts.

“I don’t think Ace High really stuck to 2,500. I think his class helped him get through,” Payne said.

“A lot of horses don’t really make the trip.

“At least we’re going with a horse that’s going to make the trip.”

Payne, meanwhile, said Rag Queen finished her run in Saturday’s G1 Spring Champion Stakes in good order and will head to the G1 VRC Oaks (2500m) at Flemington for three-year-old fillies Thursday week.

Rag Queen finished seventh behind El Castello in the Spring Champion (2000m), beaten by just under four lengths.

“I was happy with her race,” Payne said.

“She should have been closer. She was held back and she missed the break, so she’ll go to the Oaks.

“I wanted to run her (in the spring championship) just so she would be 100 percent ready for the Oaks.”

Payne said jockey Chad Schofield would remain with Rag Queen in the Oaks.