Wingatui galloper Spectra stamped herself as a southern stayer to follow when she broke maidens at the Grand National Carnival yesterday.
The 5yr-old cruised away from her opposition to win by two and a-half lengths for rider Chris Johnson.
Spectra had warmed up for her feature race day assignment with two solid runs over 1600m since joining trainer Terry Kennedy's barn in the autumn.
The Reliable Man mare stepped up to 2000m with enough style to suggest higher grades would hold no fears for her.
''She is going to be a good stayer going forward; she stays all day,'' Kennedy said.
Spectra is raced on lease by a group of owners closely connected to Kennedy's stable that includes his son Bailey.
They leased the mare from a client of leading trainers Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman, who started her 12 times for four placings.
''Murray rang me up and said she was a nice horse that could go through the grades, but her owner wanted to move her on and focus on some young ones.
''So they sent her down to, hopefully, get some black type for her broodmare career.''
Spectra was aided by another brilliant Grand National Carnival ride by the in-form Chris Johnson.
The Kennedy stable enjoyed a good day at yesterday's meeting, Bakela running second in his rating 82 event.
The 6yr-old rallied hard after getting a split near the rail in the straight but could not overhaul the winner, Monza Circuito.
