Campbell, whose claim took 4kg off the back of the Brian and Shane Anderton-trained gelding, angled Patrick Erin to the outside of the track where he came with a big late finish to hold out runner-up Lochan Ora and win the $35,000 open handicap by a nose.
Victory took the progressive 6yr-old's tally to eight wins and seven placings.
That puts Patrick Erin right on track for not only New Zealand Cup week, but also his long-range goal of the Wellington Cup.
Campbell was to link with super mare Coulee in Saturday's open sprint, but the horse was a late scratching on the morning of the race.
Coulee's injury worries were considered minor, but enough to force her out of the race, Shane Anderton said.
The open 1200m was later won by the Michael and Matthew-Pitman trained Flying Ibis who sprinted quickly off a muddling speed for rider Amanda Morgan.
The victory was among a quartet of wins for the Yaldhurst stable which also scored with Mira, Why Me and Montoya Star.
It was business as usual on Saturday for New Zealand's pin-up 3yr-old filly, Prom Queen.
She confirmed her favouritism for next month's New Zealand 1000 Guineas with an easy group 3 victory at Ashburton in her first attempt over 1400m for trainers Ken and Lisa Rae and Krystal Williams.
After the win in which she beat Sensei and Age of Fire, Prom Queen's fixed-odds price for next month's 1600m group 1 feature at Riccarton tumbled from $6 to $2.50.
The win answered any talk before the race that the Super Easy filly was just a 1200m sprinting machine, though that was not something Ken Rae had got caught up in.
''I've never, ever worried about her going a mile [1600m],'' he said.
''Against her own age group she's got too much class. She'll go straight to the Guineas now.''
The only slight hiccup in Saturday's race came when Let Her Rip Riley (Rafi Firdhaus), whose saddle slipped soon after the start, bolted to the front ahead of Prom Queen.
But that was not enough to put Prom Queen off her game, as she relaxed one off the rail for fill-in rider Samantha Collett, who steppedfor her suspended jockey cousin, Alysha.
''She's not a hard to filly to ride and Alysha has done all the work on her,'' Samantha Collett said.
''They're going to be hard-pressed to beat her in the Guineas.''
