The track at Ellerslie was incredibly biased towards on pacers almost the entire day due to the rail being out substantially so the effort of Secret Spirit to bury her 3yo rivals at G3 gained further merit. She got back on the inner after being hampered early and once angled off and getting to be the widest runner at the 400m then unleashed powerfully to take the front 100m out. The filly has won three Listed races in a row coming into this G3 3yo event over 1400m and beat the boys today by half a length in 1:30.05 for her fourth win in seven outings. She captured her fourth stakes event in a row and is clearly a wet tracker so not much may be left for her this campaign although the rain-affected footing is still around almost a month into Spring. The winner of the final event on the card, a Ratings 65 (one class above maidens), clocked 1:29.46 or just over three lengths quicker than Secret Spirit and that is a slight worry. Massa Lu was game in defeat after working handy wide and being a sitting duck from the 300m when taking the front only to be headed at the 100m then fought back really well. A win is very close for the 3yo colt this time in as he has scope and has a Listed placing as a juvenile to go with his G3 second today. He may be a G1 mile player at Riccarton in the second week of November once through his next run should he stay in New Zealand to race for the rest of this Spring. Thunder Down Under for a maiden was colossal in defeat when third beaten just over half a length. He was back and wide then improved even deeper across the top before coming up the second widest runner at the 400m with only the eventual winner outside him at this point. The colt kept coming the whole run home and probably should have won the race outright but for working overtime deep the whole way. While he was very wide the winner was closer in saving energy and only drawn deep turning for home plus it should be noted he gave the filly 2kg in a sex allowance. She was a three-race winner prior to today and he a maiden. Heart Of Th’Castle ran on closer in after being tardy while the maiden Scooter O’Reilly is a winner in waiting. He was wide on the pace then took the lead only to be headed at the 300m however he fought back only to wilt late and be beaten just under two lengths. Prairie Creek was okay after being in or near the lead while Brighton was disappointing and will need to show something next time out to justify being kept in work this time in. The maidens Megawatt and El Nino were outclassed while the speedy Rio Claro simply did not run the 1400m. The winning filly Secret Spirit is a talented swimmer but wet tracks will not last forever so has that asterisk of requiring specific conditions. Massa Lu has it all ahead this Spring while the maidens Thunder Down Under and Scooter O’Reilly will be winning very soon if they go for a soft kill to ensure a start in future blacktype events.