A long-range plan had a happy ending, but only just, when Power O'Hata prevailed at Te Rapa in her first black type outing.
The lightly-raced daughter of Power (GB), who
had been successful when sent south to the central districts for the opening
run of her campaign, handled a sharp rise in class with aplomb on Saturday to
narrowly beat Hanger in the Gr.3 Inglis Sales Cambridge Breeders' Stakes
(1200m).
"We thought if she could win at New Plymouth then we had to have a crack at this," said Murray Baker, who prepares the filly at Cambridge with Andrew Forsman.
"We've liked her right the way through. You don't even know she's there – she's quite quiet and that's the way you want them."
Power O'Hata sat in behind the leader and she responded to rider Matthew Cameron's urgings in the run home to take her record to three wins from six appearances.
"She's quite a promising filly and I thought it was a lovely ride by Matt, full credit to him," Baker said.
Power O'Hata hit the front 150m from home and withstood the late lunge of Hanger to score by the narrowest of margins.
"It's hard to go from a Rating 65 win at New Plymouth to a Saturday stakes race, but we got the right trip," Cameron said.
"I got the split when I wanted and she kicked nicely. She's seems a lot stronger, but she's still green and got her head up when she hit the front. Luckily she had it down on the line."
Power O'Hata is the seventh stakes-winner for Power, who is relocating to Queensland to stand at Oaklands Stud this spring. - NZ Racing Desk
