Class that will come in exceptionally handy in the spring got Irish Express home at the Amberley club's meeting at Riccarton on Saturday.
The Ellis Winsloe-trained 2yr-old looked to flounder on the heaviest of Riccarton surfaces but when rider Chris Johnson asked the horse to go he showed his class when it mattered to remain unbeaten in two starts.
''Chris came back in and said he never really handled it at all, so that's why he took him wide to make his run as he felt he needed some clear air to get into his stride,'' Winsloe said.
''I wondered if he would cope with the track, being drawn down on the rail, and with 400m to run I wasn't too sure how he was travelling.''
The Gore trainer plans to take a path he travelled more than 20 years ago as far as Irish Express's long-term goal in the spring is concerned.
''He won't go to the paddock but he can have an easy time
of it at the stable and we can just bring him along as we need to.
''We followed a similar pattern with Tartan Tights and that worked out OK so we know that's the right way to go.''
Winsloe was part of the team behind Tartan Tights' win in the 1994 New Zealand 1000 Guineas. The outstanding filly raced from the stable of his late father, Ted Winsloe, and was ridden in the Guineas by Johnson.
''He [Irish Express] still has a lot of growing and maturing to do so we don't want to bust him by over-racing him at this stage.''
Classy sprinter Dressedtokill continues to strike wins at impressive rate.
The Pam Robson-trained mare scored win four in the open sprint on Saturday at her seventh start.
In winning the 4yr-old also proved again that the heaviest of surfaces do not hold any fears for her. She now has two wins from as many starts on heavy 11 tracks.
Rawmaterial also continued his good winning strike rate when scoring in rating 75 company for trainer Les Didham and rider Leah Hemi.
Like Irish Excuse, the horse will be set for spring assignments.
''He's a good horse in the making and I've said that all along,'' Didham said.
''I'd love to see him at the [New Zealand] Cup meeting in November.''
-By Jonny Turner
-Additional reporting NZ Racing Desk.
