Prince Oz continued his rise through the southern galloping ranks with his fourth consecutive win at Wingatui on Saturday.
The gelding kept his unbeaten record in the South Island intact with a hard-fought victory in race 4.
The victory marked the Neill Ridley-trained galloper’s progression from an 11-start, one-race winner to genuine open-class galloper in less than eight weeks.
Prince Oz felt like he was under pressure early in the straight but dug deep to win, rider Terry Moseley said.
Juliette showed she was a horse to follow through the winter with a booming win in race 5.
The Terry Kennedy-trained filly sprinted away from her maiden rivals to win by an impressive four and a-quarter lengths.
The win made up for the horse being late scratched after dumping rider Shankar Muniandy in the starting stalls at Wingatui last month.
She jumped cleanly from the stalls on Saturday and her victory never looked in doubt in the home straight after jockey Shankar Muniandy took her to the front on the home turn.
Ascot Park trainer Jo-Ann Gordon’s incredibly successful season continued when she won with Shakti and Shaara on Saturday.
Shakti put in a tough effort to carry 59.5kg to beat his rating 85 rivals in race 3.
Gordon doubled up when Sharaa took out Saturday’s feature flat race, a 1400m open handicap.
• Southland trainer-driver Nathan Williamson will return to the sulky today after breaking his foot in April.
Williamson will reunite with Dangerous, who looks a big winning chance in race 7 at Ascot Park.
The horseman has two runners from his stable in race 2, the feature trot. He will drive Grey Power and his brother, Matthew, drives Splash Cola.
Race 8, today’s feature pace, is headed by Southbound Train and Young Conqueror.
