Barnes sped to victory aboard the impressive Andrew Carston-trained 2yr-old winner at Riccarton on Saturday.
The pair bounded out of the starting gates and simply never gave their rivals a chance of catching them in a 900m 2yr-old dash.
Xpressmymind’s win has her looking like the star of the South’s early 2yr-old ranks but whether she will go on to line up in some of the bigger 2yr-old events will depend on how she handles her racing, Carston said.
"It’s been a good team effort and they’re only 2 once, so as long as she comes through this race well, we’ll go again.
"She’s a really nice filly who hasn’t done anything wrong."
Xpressmymind gave her sire, Shamexpress, his first win with her victory.
The son of O’Reilly, who was a group 1 performing sprinter in Australia, stands at Windsor Park Stud in Waikato. Barnes was just denied victory in Saturday’s open sprint when Carnival went down narrowly to Don Carlo.
The pair fought out an epic home-straight duel but Don Carlo emerged the winner under rider Kylie Williams’ urgings.
Don Carlo had not raced since running in the Stewards Handicap at the New Zealand Cup Carnival.
Barnes’ fellow North Taieri jockey Jacob Lowry will also be hoping to continue his association after again winning on Boots ’N’ All at Riccarton on Saturday.
Lowry kept his unbeaten record on the horse intact following the pair’s last start win in the listed Timaru Stakes on the course.
Lowry found the one-one on the horse and waited as long as he could before launching him for his winning run.
That gave Boots ’N’ All every chance to run out his first attempt beyond 1600m strongly and he did exactly that by beating Who Dares Wins and Benzini.
Lowry later guided New Zealand Oaks prospect Pinup Coup to victory.The Matthew and Michael Pitman-trained filly had her first clash with some of the country’s leading 3yr-old fillies in the group 3 Desert Gold Stakes at Trentham over the Wellington Cup carnival.
"She just didn’t have any luck at Trentham and probably should have finished a lot closer in the Desert Gold," Matthew Pitman said.
"We’ve always thought she would be an Oaks filly, as she wants to stay, so that is where we have been heading with her.
"It was a lovely ride by Jacob and although it was close at the post, he did say she did it with plenty in hand."
Pinup Coup would again head north before her New Zealand Oaks tilt to race in the group 3 Lowland Stakes at Hastings next month.
— additional reporting NZ Racing Desk
