John Sargent ensured the Canterbury Belle Stakes stayed in his stable at Riccarton on Saturday.
After winning the race last year with Princess Emmy, he made it two in a row this year when the Shinko King filly, Kasumi, proved too good for race favourite Planet Rock on Saturday.
A striking three-year-old filly, Kasumi showed plenty of ability as a two-year-old last season when running second on debut and then winning the listed Champagne Stakes before being rested.
Sargent's South Island stable foreman, Andrew Carstons, said that while he was expecting a big run from the filly on Saturday, a winning performance over Planet Rock was a bit of a surprise.
"We have always known that she had a bit of ability but to me it looked like we were all going to be hard pressed to beat Planet Rock," he said.
"She (Kasumi) has been down here for a couple of weeks after having a trial up north and her work had been good leading up, so we were hopeful rather than confident."
Jamie Bullard took the reins on Kasumi on Saturday and produced a brilliant ride – and had some interesting words for Carstons after the race.
"He actually said that he thought she could have won by five lengths but she got a wee bit lost," Carstons said.
"She's only had three starts, so there's still plenty to learn for her but she's doing things pretty right at the moment."
Kasumi will be next seen at Riccarton next month but no decision has been made on which of the two Guineas races she will tackle during Cup Week in November.
In another race, leading trainer Jason Bridgman was fined $850 on Saturday and his runner, Croix Du Sud, was disqualified from third in the day's rating-80 event.
Croix Du Sud's jockey Danielle Johnson weighed in 1kg underweight after the race and it was discovered that her lead bag was applied to stable runner Bespoke and not Croix Du Sud.
Meanwhile, while no New Zealand horse has returned a dividend in the Cox Plate since 2001, it could be different this year.
Hopes of a New Zealand victory at Moonee Valley next month soared after the Group One triumphs by Jimmy Choux and Lion Tamer at the weekend.
Jimmy Choux blitzed his rivals in the $200,000 Windsor Park Plate (1600m) at Hastings on Saturday and Lion Tamer won the A$350,000 (NZ$437,500) Underwood Stakes (1800m) at Caulfield.
It was Lion Tamer's second Group One win in Melbourne and it came in his second start since his Victoria Derby win last spring.
Lion Tamer and Jimmy Choux now head towards the A$3 million Cox Plate (2040m) on October 22, the day before the Rugby World Cup final at Eden Park, in Auckland.