Underrated mare Diss Is Dramatic found her winning groove again when she stormed home to claim the feature event at Tauranga, the Group 2 Japan Trophy (1600m).
Steady rain during the day saw the track downgraded to a Heavy 8 and played into the hands of those horses who could find a path to the better going out wide in the home straight.
Rider Matt Cameron executed that plan to perfection as he allowed the Lisa Latta-prepared four-year-old to settle mid-pack in the early running, but crucially four horse widths off the inside rail before angling to the outer reaches rounding the home bend.
Once she balanced up, the daughter of Dissident found an extra gear as she raced to the leaders at the 100m and then held out a late charge by Mali Ston, who tracked her all the way, to score by a head at the line.
Latta was quick to praise Cameron for a heady ride on a mare who never knows how to run a bad race.
“That was a great effort and a perfect ride by Matt,” she said.
“He had her nicely placed throughout and got her to the outside just when he needed to.
“She is a very gutsy mare and she has performed on wetter tracks before. Being able to get to the place in the track where it wasn't as bad as on the inner helped and so did carrying such a light weight (54kgs).
“We also added the tongue tie today as she had been blowing a bit after her work and in her races, so it may have also aided her.”
Latta has numerous options available for her charge and will take some time to work out a programme for her.
“We will take her home and sit down and have a think about things as there are a lot of races we could target,” she said.
“The New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders' Stakes (Group 1, 1600m) is an obvious one but races like the Manawatu Breeders' Stakes (Group 3, 2100m) or the Travis Stakes (Group 2, 2000m) also hold a lot of appeal.
“Wherever we go we think she can be competitive.”