If it wasn't Dexter Dunn bringing up 200 winners for the third time, there were trainers delivering their first race-night double, trotters winning off 70m handicaps, and even horses winning after an 18-month spell.
After training 400 winners, most of them in the trotting gait, Phil Williamson has achieved most things in the trotting side of harness racing, but Monnay's effort to win off 70m was a new thrill for the Oamaru trainer.
''I've won a lot of races but I don't think I've ever won a race off 70m,'' Williamson said.
''It was a fantastic performance, really.''
Monnay stepped away beautifully from his back mark, and had latched on to the main bunch with 2000m to go. He loomed up with 500m to go and trotted clear to win by 1 lengths.
''I knew he would be pretty tough because he's in the zone and he has a class edge,'' Williamson said.
''But the further back you go, it's like putting weight on a galloper. The more you put on, the more it evens up a little bit. That was a massive ask.''
Steve Lock has collected 55 winners in 27 seasons of training, but he has never had two winners on the same race card. That changed last night, thanks to 9yr-old trotter Snow Boy winning a maiden trot at his 33rd start and Blazing Bracelet showing her usual late-race dash to win.
Both of Lock's wins came courtesy of driver Dexter Dunn, who took his season tally to 199 wins before bringing up the double ton for the first time since the 2010-11 season behind Whozideawasthis. Lock cited Snow Fella, whom he trained to six of his 10 wins in the early 1990s, as one of the best horses he has been associated with.
Punters backing Jaccka Art last night had to place their faith in the training talents of Brett Gray, as the horse had not lined up - on a race day or at the trials or workouts - since January 2013.
His driver, Tim Williams, said a lack of workouts in Southland during winter meant he and Gray had to go it alone.
''Obviously with no workouts down home this time of year, we gave it a couple of private workouts and tried to have it as ready as we could,'' he said.
''We were pretty confident - with the right sort of run, he could definitely foot it with them. He's always had the ability.''
Winners are coming in threes for Ross and Angela Gordon, who race horses out of Robert Dunn's Canterbury stable.
The Gordons, of Christchurch, have enjoyed three different juvenile winners this season - Say My Name, Robbie Burns and last night's winner, Johnny Jet.
''They've been great loyal owners who have been with us for the last 10 to 12 years,'' driver John Dunn said.
