Te Rapa, May 31

ASCENSION

The Ardrossan filly is a half-sister to the stakes winners Sergio and Windsor. She caught the eye with this third placing in a 1200-metre maiden race. Despite carrying plenty of extra ground, she produced a strong finish from near the back of the field to get to within a length of the winner. She ran the fastest last 800m, 600m, 400m and 200m in the race.

Wanganui, May 31

COUNTRY SALON

A smart winner at Trentham on May 10, the two-year-old son of Darci Brahma was a luckless second here. He looked set to fight out the finish with his stablemate Spandeedo when that pair pulled ahead of the field coming down the side of the track, but then Spandeedo hung out badly around the turn and carried him very wide. He did well to recover and fill the runner-up spot.

Wingatui, June 1

EL VAQUERO

Unplaced on debut in April, he produced a much-improved performance here. He raced three wide on the pace and proved hard to catch down the straight, eventually going down by a head to Cool Aza Rene. The winner has now won three of her four starts, so this Ferrando colt should have a maiden win within his reach in the not-too-distant future.

Te Aroha, June 2

CREAM TART

In only the second start of her career, a spectacularly dominant win by seven and three-quarter lengths marked this Hello Youmzain filly as one to follow as a three-year-old in the spring.