The Tale Of The Cat mare galloped over 1000m with open-class sprinter Captain Kirk, and showed she is more than ready to tackle the group 3 White Robe Lodge Handicap at Wingatui on February 1.
No full time was taken for the 1000m jump-out, but the 4yr-old's last 600m was timed at 34.6sec.
Claire Anderton, who is looking after husband Steven Anderton's team while he campaigns The Solitaire and The Glitzy One in the North Island, said the run was ideal 11 days out from the 1600m feature.
''She needed that good hit-out today. That will be her last serious bit of work,'' Anderton said.
''We'll just tick her over until next Saturday."
The Andertons had kept The Diamond One up to the mark since her last-to-first win at Wingatui on Boxing Day.
''She's doing very well. Her coat's nice and she's licking the bin so we're very happy.''
Steven Anderton told the NZ Racing Desk yesterday a winter campaign is an option for the mare.
''I'm keen to take her over to Brisbane in the winter time and if we do that then she's more than likely to have a wee break and take her over without a race,'' he said.
''I want to get her over there in the middle of a campaign, rather than at the end when she's starting to feel a bit tired. She's a good-natured mare and I really think she will blossom in Brisbane.''
Captain Kirk is one of five horses Otaki trainer Rachael Frost is campaigning in the South Island.
The Captain Rio gelding was a winner in the feature sprint at Wingatui on Champions Day last year.
''There's nothing for this fellow up north. Well, there was the Telegraph, but he wouldn't have run on a fast1 [track] anyway,'' Frost said.
Quartet, a 3yr-old King's Chapel filly who won the 800m heat for maiden and inexperienced horses, is three to four weeks away from a race start, her co-trainer, Shane Anderton, said.
Gallant Ruby and Gallant Rose, who finished second and third in the 800m maiden heat, will also follow similar paths.
Paul Richards plans to trial the winner of the 1000m maiden, a Coats Choice-Bromista 3yr-old gelding, further up the South Island in the next month.
He said he was also likely to take the runner-up, a King's Chapel-Solo Star gelding, to the trials at the same time.
