He has been as tough as teak all season, but 3yr-old Locharburn finally earned the group 1 accolades he deserved at Addington last night.
The son of Christian Cullen did the donkey work in last month's Northern Derby at Alexandra Park, and he pulled out a big performance to down Isaiah in last night's New Zealand Derby.
Driver Dexter Dunn was caught wide early before moving Locharburn forward to the parked position with 1800m to go and the battle against the leader, Isaiah, driven by Natalie Rasmussen, began in earnest with 800m remaining.
''He overraced a little bit and didn't really relax like I wanted him to, but to his credit, he dug massively deep,'' Dunn told Trackside TV's Greg O'Connor after the race.
The leading pair gave their rivals no chance of featuring in the finish, pacing the last 800m in 54.6 seconds and the final 400m in 26.8.
''Round the bend at the 400m, Nat was travelling a lot better than me and she kicked away a bit. But once I straightened up and pulled the blinds he kicked really hard.''
Master Lavros had a chase on his hands in the last lap of the New Zealand Trotting Championship as Robbie Holmes set a fierce tempo on Clover Don in the 2600m feature.
However, a decision by Master Lavros' trainer-driver, Mark Jones, to take a breather in the trail near the turn may have been the winning of the race as Master Lavros edged his way past Clover Don to add to his Dominion win in November.
Earlier in the night, Mark Purdon reigned supreme in the group 1 New Zealand Trotting Derby, despite his drive, King Denny, being forced to do his fair share of work.
The group 2 Welcome Stakes for the 2yr-olds was another benefit for Purdon and his training partner, Natalie Rasmussen, when Alta Orlando, driven by Rasmussen, held off the Purdon-driven Hug The Wind.
Adore Me warmed up for next week's Easter Cup by setting a national record time of 3.08.7 for the 2600m stand, smashing Bettor's Strike's 2010 mark of 3.11.5.
