Ruakaka trainer Chris Gibbs has always had plenty of time for Ever So Easy and he was delighted to see the three-year-old gelding justify his high opinion with a dominant victory in the Kamo Club (1200m) at his home track on Thursday.

The son of Super Easy jumped well from barrier two to sit just behind the speed for jockey Craig Grylls. He remained handy throughout and quickly tackled his rivals turning for home and ran away to a comfortable three and a half length victory over Holyhead, with a further one and a half lengths back to Jaydeear in third.

While Gibbs was pleased with the win, he admitted to being slightly nervous heading into the race. “I was a little bit nervous because I had changed my training with him quite a bit,” Gibbs said.

“He is quite clean-winded, so we just backed right off and took him in really fresh. We never galloped him any harder than about 15 to a furlong and he just came into that race beautifully. “He has got a good brain. I am really happy with the result.”

Gibbs said he has rated the three-year-old from an early stage, which resulted in Ever So Easy making his race debut in September in the Group 3 Northland Breeders' Stakes (1200m), where he finished fifth behind Need I Say More.

“The horses who beat him were very good horses,” Gibbs said. “I threw him in the deep end. I kept looking around to try and find a suitable race and there weren't many decent maiden races around at the time, so I thought we will let him have a go. “I think we got a really good line on him.”

Gibbs is now unsure where he will head with Ever So Easy, but if he continues to improve a trip across the Tasman could be in the offing. “I needed to see him produce the ability that we knew he had and do it on race day,” he said.

“There are lots of ideas that have been thrown around. He's bred to be more a sprinter-miler. We will see how we go and COVID restrictions could change a lot. If we can organise going over to Brisbane, that could be an option.”