It began when stewards asked the Volkstok'n'barrell camp how the horse would be ridden - forward from a very wide gate, or drop back.
Gibbs told Williams he would prefer the horse ridden back; Williams replied he wanted to go up early "to use Volkstok'n'barrell's tactical speed".
Gibbs left it to Williams, who pushed the horse and quite easily crossed the field on a slow early pace. Two factors came into play - the inside rail, where Volkstok'n'barrell was definitely "off" for the second half of the programme, and the leaders went ridiculously slow.
The 1600m time, the slowest of the day, was a pedestrian 1:37.96, which maidens would better at Ballarat.
However, that meant the leaders ran the final 600m in an electric 33.7, which suited neither Volkstok'n'barrell nor Mongolian Khan.
When first asked to sprint with the leaders in the home straight by Williams, Volkstok'n'barrell was left flat-footed by the quickened tempo. Then the horse directly in front and to the side rolled in on him slightly.
"Volkstok'n'barrell cruised the final 200m and although last, was just four lengths from the winner.
"The really disappointing thing is that we needed this race to tell us where we are with the horse and whether we point him at the Caulfield Cup or the Cox Plate," said Gibbs yesterday. "We got no guide at all off this effort."
Williams is riding one of the Japanese visitors in the Caulfield Cup and is urging the Volkstok'n'barrell camp to aim at the Cox Plate.
"I'm sure part of Craig's tactics yesterday were to try the horse out to see if he has the speed for a Cox Plate. No decisions have been made, but the horse is so well weighted in the Caulfield Cup (53.5kg) we have to give serious consideration to that race."
Gibbs said Williams came back after the race and said: "He's fine, he's fine. Don't worry about that run."
"We haven't committed to a rider for any race at this point so that's something else we have to land on the same page with Donna [Logan, co-trainer] and the owners."
Mongolian Khan's effort was superb. You could ask no more of a horse having his first start since the Australian Derby in the autumn. He looks wonderfully on track for the big Cups.
Everything about The Justice League says "best form down the line". That didn't stop the enormously talented 3-year-old winning Saturday's $50,000 Tavistock Northland Breeders Stakes, even if by a bare nose.
The Justice League had to work hard from the outside barrier and had to hold off one of the hottest fields since the autumn in the closing stages.
Selfie got close after having trouble working clear in a five-horse line-up at the 200m.
"It was a very strong effort to hold on," Michael Coleman said of The Justice League. "He's a smart horse."
Selfie, also runner up in the Karaka Million, looked good, as did Rocanto finishing a close third.
Dal Cielo was almost in line and there was a small gap to Amarula and Marky Mark.
Marky Mark got back to second last and looked the danger when he attempted to take a narrow gap along the rail at the 220m.
When it closed he lost his momentum and was left flat-footed in the closing stages. Forget that effort.
Tennessee, co- trained by Stephen McKee with Eddie Chippendale, won on debut in the juvenile event, the honours being shared with the second horse Caorunn.
Tennessee drew barrier five in the six-horse field and Caorunn the outside gate. The difference sounds insignificant, but it meant Caorunn had to sit outside Tennessee instead of getting to the rail and the gas the runner-up used trying for the front early was more than the narrow margin he was beaten by.
Both look likely to be smart racehorses.
The news was much better for Logan and Gibbs at home after up-and-coming star Hasselhoof overcame a determined Smedley to win the Thomson Wilson Hcp to notch his fourth victory in a row at his middle-distance debut.
Logan favours giving the 4-year-old a let-up, rather than taking him to Melbourne.
