A new and improved Il Cavallo may just live up expectations after the colt dominated his opposition at Flemington.

Il Cavallo won on debut in track record time in March last year to evoke hopes of a Golden Slipper start but the colt failed to live up to the promise of his initial success.

But a return to stakes racing as a late three-year-old is likely following Il Cavallo's strong win in the third heat of the AR Creswick Series (1000m).

Jockey Luke Nolen let Il Cavallo ($5) stride out in front before the close relation to dual hemisphere Group One winner Starspangledbanner dashed clear of his opposition to score by 4-1/4 lengths over Kraftwerk ($7.50).

The victory followed Il Cavallo's second-up win in slow ground at Sandown 10 days earlier.

Nolen says he and trainer Peter Moody never doubted the Choisir colt's talent but Il Cavallo let himself down earlier in his career.

"He's a talented colt and he just had little issues earlier in his career about how to rate himself.

"We had a real high expectation for him but it was disappointing not to see those things come to fruition.

"If he continues on this tangent, he's going to knock off some nice races."

Il Cavallo completed a Flemington double for the Moody stable but notched his win in a contrasting manner to Dig A Pony in the Ken Cox Handicap (1400m).

A fast pace left Dig A Pony ($10) to settle last in the 11-horse field before the three-year-old filly surged down the centre of the track under Linda Meech to post a four-length win.

The dual success left Moody with 55 Melbourne wins for the season, 21 behind trainers' premiership winner Darren Weir, who went winless at Flemington.