The 4yr-old mare has been plagued by injury throughout her career, and trainer-driver Gavin Smith has to be very careful with her before committing her to a start, due to problems that have been with her ever since she won a Young Guns fillies heat in Auckland in January 2011.
''She has been sore pretty much ever since that day,'' Smith said.
''There are several joints that we have to keep on top of, but her main issues are her front fetlocks.''
Her injury concerns show themselves on the race track if she is affected by her soundness issues.
''As soon as she starts feeling it, she doesn't try at all.''
Smith took a very gentle approach with her after her placing of 11th at Motukarara in late December.
''We backed off her and freshened her up since last time and all she's done is walk in the water under saddle,'' he said.
''Today, she was sound and felt perfect and raced accordingly.''
While yesterday's win was her fifth from 31 starts, motherhood does beckon - eventually.
''She's been served two or three times by Somebeachsomewhere and hasn't taken yet,'' Smith said.
''The last [service] was about 10 days ago. If she doesn't get in foal this time, we'll probably have to race on a bit and wait until next year.''
As she is a day-to-day proposition, Smith will see how she comes through before deciding on her next race, but the early signs were promising.
''She pulled up pretty good today, and the track is good here.''
Desire Mhe is raced by North Island racing photographer Trish Dunell and her son, Cameron Mackie. Dunell bought the son of Real Desire at the 2010 Australasian Classic Yearling Sales in Auckland for $7500. Desire Mhe's dam, Mhairi, is a full-sister to Mr Bojangles, who won the group 2 Futurity Stakes and group 2 4YO Classic in consecutive weeks at Cambridge in 2006.
A hint of speed was enough to convince Justin Le Lievre to buy Zara P, and his hunch paid off last night.
Le Lievre bought the 5yr-old daughter of Elsu out of the Gavin Smith stable after the bloodstock agent saw something he liked in the black mare and decided to bring some new owners into the industry - ex-policemen Jay Holwood and Kevin Boyle - along with Mike Wilson and Teresa McKay, all of Christchurch.
''Because I'm in the bloodstock business, I thought `well, it would be a good start for them', so it's been a perfect result.''
Zara P ran away from her rivals over the last 200m, winning by 6 lengths in a time of 2.45.8 for junior driver Rory McIlwrick.
She had run second at Winton on December 22 before getting caught parked in Hannah Jaye's New Zealand record run of 2.54.3 at Winton on December 29, and went a bold second at Roxburgh on January 4.
Zara P was parked for the last lap of yesterday's 2200m journey, but that did not matter this time as McIlwrick sent her clear at the top of the straight.
Le Lievre, who forged a long career with Trackside TV as a presenter, also has a lot of respect for Gavin Smith's horsemanship which came into play when he thought about making the purchase.
''She had a wee bit of speed and if you're going to buy a horse, you buy them off good trainers because they look after them so well.''
Zara P has been with Andrew Armour, just west of Invercargill, since early December and Le Lievre has been impressed with her performances since joining the southern stable.
''It's fair to say Andrew Armour has done a great job and Gavin sent the horse down in great condition''Le Lievre's business has had a good week, with Its Bedlam (South Australia), Lively GNP (Perth), Cup Day Spur (New South Wales), My Lady Of The Night (New South Wales) and Millicent (Oamaru) all winning this week after being sold through Le Lievre's agency.
