The 25-year-old scored the sixth group or listed race victory of her career when she urged enough out of Windsor to fight off placegetters Monza Circuito and Belle Fascino in the 1400m feature.
Riccarton Park trainer Terri Rae applied blinkers to Windsor for his third start from her stable, after he had produced wins at Waikouaiti and Ashburton.
The move had the 5yr-old in the mood to run from the start, which meant Barnes had to quickly change her race plans.
"We thought there was going to be plenty of speed in the race and the plan was to take a sit in behind them," the jockey said in her post-race interview.
"When he jumped so well, I let him roll along as nothing really wanted to take the lead off me.
Windsor strode clear of the field before the turn when Monza Circuito and Belle Fascino looked poised to run him down.
The winner dug deep in the straight under Barnes’ riding to score a gutsy win by a long neck over Monza Circuito.
"Turning for home he was really travelling but I knew he was going to be in for a fight," Barnes said.
"To his credit he really kicked hard and was too tough in the end.
"I’m not sure what Terri has planned for him now but he’s going really well and he will be competitive in whatever she targets him for."
Rae plans to freshen the horse before considering where to attempt win four from start four from her stable.
"I would say he is a going to be pretty tired after that as it was a massive effort," the trainer said.
"He really did all the hard work out in front as we had the blinkers on and it fired him up.
"He was very brave to fight the way he did as sometimes you have to question him but today, he put his all into the race."
"I think he can have some time off before we work out what to do with him next."
Windsor won three of 20 starts in the North Island before joining Rae’s barn.
