Poacher, trained at Cambridge by part-owner Ann Browne, travelled south on Tuesday.
He is in the care of Pam Gerard at Ashburton.
He was ridden by Missy Browne, who won the open hurdles on Kidunot.
Poacher, the winner of three hurdles races, had been placed in three of his other six starts over country.
He tailed a six-horse field yesterday, came to the fore at the last fence and won clearly.
Poacher was entered for the open steeplechase (4200m) rather than the maiden (3300m) when nominations were light.
His win suggested he would be a force to be reckoned with at the Grand National meeting.
Kidunot and stablemate Not In The Avenues are headed to the Grand National Hurdles at Riccarton on August 6 after finishing first and second respectively in the restricted open hurdles yesterday.
The pair are trained at Gore by Ellis Winsloe, whose late father, Ted, won the Grand National Hurdles with Vamoose in 1962.
Kidunot races in the white and emerald green colours worn by Eiffel Tower, winner of the National in 1966 and 1967.
Eiffel Tower was raced by the late Bill Hazlett and trained by Bill Hillis.
Kidunot is raced by Mr Hazlett's son Bill, and grandson, Jim, with Len Insall and Winsloe.
Mountain High, a half-brother by Yamanin Vital to the well-performed jumper Variable, won the maiden steeples yesterday.
The 6yr-old has the same connections.
He is trained by Brian and Shane Anderton and raced by Brian and Lorraine Anderton and Barry and Diedre Neville-White, of Auckland.
It was the first win for Mountain High, a 6yr-old.
Torrent, who was bought for $250 by his Riccarton owner-trainer Peter Rudkin, won the maiden hurdles yesterday.
Torrent led and held on by a long neck from Sunkai.
Rudkin was based at Cambridge when he bought Torrent two years ago at a Cambridge Lodge sale.
The Lord Ballina gelding had been unplaced in four starts on the flat.
Rudkin won five races, all at West Coast meetings with Trifox.
He decided to shift to Christchurch 10 months ago after bringing horses to Canterbury for Kenny Rae.
Rudkin had earlier sent Torrent south to Pam Gerard.
Mr Gilligan, a $53,000 yearling purchase, cleared maiden ranks yesterday.
He is a rising 4yr-old by Volksraad trained by Terry Kennedy who races him with Paul Carran, of Riverton and Marion Stevenson, the chairwoman of Gallop South.
"He [Mr Gilligan] is a big fellow and is just taking a bit of time to work out the racing business, but he has a lot of potential," Kennedy said.
