A quick look at the form line of Platinum Princess prior to her race at Ascot Park yesterday should have given punters plenty of hope.
The mare had raced four times for a win, a sixth, another win, and a sixth at her last start at Cromwell.
So, naturally, to continue the pattern, Platinum Princess needed to win.
And win she did, flashing home late between runners to down El Diablo by a long neck.
Her quick progress through the grades has been a revelation for her driver, Jonny Cox, who trains the 4yr-old with Amber Hoffman at Westwood Beach.
''She's surprised us a little bit,'' Cox said.
''She's come a long way in a short time.
''It's pretty breezy out there so we probably had the right spot four-back on the fence and the gaps opened up at the right time.''
Cox and Hoffman prepare the daughter of Christian Cullen for Stephen and Jo Blair, of Leeston, who also race Pure Christian with Cox and Hoffman.
''She's in the field at Oamaru on Sunday in a one-to-three-win so she can still race in that. She can probably go there and she deserves a wee break after that.''
Winning feeling backPhoenix Warrior brought the winning feeling back to Jan-Maree Pyle when he broke maidens at his fifth start yesterday.
Pyle, of Waianiwa, between Wallacetown and Riverton, bred the 3yr-old son of Jereme's Jet with her husband, Karl.
''My husband was studying the different lines and wanted something different, so we thought we'd go for something that no-one else was at the time,'' she said.
Pyle, the daughter of former leading Southland trainer Alan Scobie said normally her father would train her horses, but he was unwell and told Pyle to place the gelding with Tony Barron.
''He suggested Tony might be a good trainer for us, so we went with Tony.''
The Pyles had some luck with Lucy Thundercloud, who won three races for the Waianiwa couple before she was sold to Merv and Meg Butterworth. The daughter of Tinted Cloud went on to run third at massive odds in the 2007 Harness Jewels 4yr-old mares final before being exported to the United States.
Lucy Thundercloud's former owner, Merv Butterworth, who often has two to three winners a week, is based in Victoria, but he was on course at Ascot Park yesterday to see Jaccka Lonny win in style.
The 4yr-old son of McArdle was 3 lengths clear of Theo Bos in the c1-2 handicap pace.
Butterworth, who has a business background in automotive electronics, has given up collecting photos for his walls, as he has run out of space. Two seasons ago, he and wife Meg had 124 wins as owners.
