Livamol Classic Day at Hastings got off to an action-packed start on Saturday, with a dead heat and a protest before Cannon Hill was declared an outright winner of the Tims Construction Premier (1300m).

The $65,000 race for three-year-olds was won by subsequent dual Oaks heroine Pennyweka last year, and the 2023 edition again attracted a talented line-up of promising youngsters that could be heading for bigger and better things later in the season.

In the end it was dominated by Cambridge raiders Tower Flypass and Cannon Hill. They held the first two positions throughout the race and set down to fight it out in the straight, with local filly Grid Girl trying to poke through in between them.

Tower Flypass began to lay out in the closing stages, causing Grid Girl to duck to the right and into the line of Cannon Hill.

Cannon Hill was able to rebalance and have one last lunge, hitting the line in a complete deadlock with Tower Flypass.

But the drama continued long after the race, with the connections joint winner Cannon Hill and third placegetter Grid Girl both lodging protests against Tower Flypass. Grid Girl’s protest was eventually dismissed, but Cannon Hill’s was upheld and he was promoted to an outright victory.

It was the second win of a four-start career for Cannon Hill, an Ardrossan colt bred and sold by Waikato Stud. He was bought by Pike Racing for $150,000 from Book 1 of Karaka 2022, and he has now banked $49,985 for a syndicate of owners that includes Noel Greenhalgh, Norcross Bloodstock, Magic Bloodstock Racing, Waikato Stud, Haunui Farm and Whakanui Stud.

“He never really looked like he was going to get up today, but he dived well late,” trainer Tony Pike said. “He’s a horse that’s probably still learning his trade. It was obviously a step up in class today and he got the job done. He’s a nice horse going forward.

“The race mapped to be dominated by those on the speed, which probably made it difficult for the favourite (Molly Bloom), but our horse was given a nice ride (by Opie Bosson) and has done well.

“He’s still quite an immature and weak three-year-old, so I think he’s going to improve with a bit of time. We’ll probably be a bit quiet with him over these early stages and maybe look for a nice three-year-old race over the Christmas-New Year period.”

Stephen Marsh, the trainer of eventual runner-up Tower Flypass, was pleased with the U S Navy Flag gelding’s performance.

“He just wanted to do a little bit wrong, getting away from the fence,” he said. “This was probably his biggest test and he’s run well. We’ll look for a 1400m race next. He wouldn’t head down south or anything like that, but he’s a very nice horse that’s just not quite doing things 100 percent right at the moment.”

Attention in the lead-up to Saturday’s race was dominated by the impressive last-start winner Molly Bloom, who arrived at Hastings as a $5 joint favourite for next month’s Gr.1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m). But little went right for the Ace High filly, who dropped out to the back of the field in a race dominated by on-speed runners. She copped interference at the home turn and then raced greenly in the straight, eventually making up good ground for a close fifth.