Trainer Darren Weir's initial plan to bypass the Australian Hurdle with Gotta Take Care looked to be the right one halfway through Saturday's Sandown event.

Weir and the horse's part-owner Graeme Wood had all but given up on Gotta Take Care's chances when his main rival Fieldmaster left him standing at the 1000m.

"I thought he was gone and he was going to be lucky to run fourth," Wood said.

But Gotta Take Care confounded connections again when he showed the heart that propelled him from a horse on the verge of being sacked by the trainer to one fast closing in on $1 million prize money.

The $2.25 favourite lifted late to overhaul Fieldmaster ($2.60), denying jockey Richard Cully and trainer Patrick Payne a feature double after the pair claimed the Australian Steeplechase with Krase 40 minutes earlier.

Cully thought he had Gotta Take Care beaten when he sent Fieldmaster forward to challenge the leaders with three hurdles to jump.

"I thought I was the winner everywhere but I wasn't on the line," Cully said.

"I was travelling far better than him (Gotta Take Care). I thought I had beaten him at the top of the hill but that's just the type of horse the winner is."

Gotta Take Care's jockey John Allen said his mount may have felt the effects of running over 3200m on the flat at Flemington last Saturday.

Allen said his mount was flat for almost the entire race before his bravery got him over the line for his 19th win from 69 starts.

"I thought he was beaten at the third last (hurdle)," Allen said.

"I'd nearly given up at the second last but his toughness shone through."

The 2011 Sydney Cup winner Stand To Gain started at $71 but managed to hold third after racing handy to the speed.

Weir originally wasn't going to start Gotta Take Care in the Australian Hurdle because he thought the Sandown circuit would not suit the horse but he changed his mind and ran the durable gelding in the $100,000 contest.

Winner of the Galleywood Hurdle at Warrnambool earlier this month, Gotta Take Care will step out at Bendigo in the Brendan Dreschler Hurdle on June 15 before the rising 10-year-old attempts to claim a $300,000 bonus in the Grand National Hurdle on July 13.

The Melbourne Racing Club has put up the bonus to any horse that can win three jumps features in a season.