Durable galloper Waipipi Lad collected expenses for an upcoming move with his latest victory at Te Rapa.
The sprightly 8-year-old produced a gallant performance in the hands of Sam Spratt on Saturday to account for his Rating 85 rivals after looking to be in trouble in the straight.
"He's a tough old bugger and Sam said she thought he was beaten when the other horse [Kitaya] headed her and was travelling a lot better, but he dug deep," trainer Jon Miller said. "He knows his job and while he's not top-class, he's capable of knocking over a good field on his day. He's a happy horse and I might look at an open mile in a month's time for him."
The race in mind for the son of Mr Nancho is the Listed Haunui Farm Classic at Pukekohe, the training base Miller will shortly leave for a shift to Cambridge.
"I've bought Anne Herbert's place so we'll be taking over next month," he said. "I'll have half a dozen horses in work and I've been breeding a few."