Just four combinations had the all clear in the first round, including Hikurangi teenager Amanda Wilson and her patchwork-coloured horse, Showtym Cassanova, who didn't rearrange any furniture in the arena. Hay followed then former Bay-born Olympian Meech, on his imported mare Queen of Dance WHS, emulated that feat while McNaught-McFarlane wasn't about to exit the party either.
Those with 12 or fewer faults did it all over again as five-time winner Laurie reminded everyone with a clear that she and Dunstan Springfield were still defending champions.
So did Beatson, riding 20-year-old My Gollywog, who won the cup in 2013, picking up a single time fault, to finish on nine faults from the two rounds.
Hay also went clear but had a single time fault, to sit on one, while Laurie and her youngster, Dunstan Breeze, went clear to sit on eight, and McNaught-McFarlane had a rail at the second to finish on four.
But Hay revealed she was prepared to do it all over again although had someone offered her a podium place before the cup she would have gleefully taken it.
Hailing from an urban satellite, 15km west of Dunedin, a softly spoken Hay revealed the obscurity and lack of North Island exposure meant the combo were venturing into a new frontier.
"In the South Island the horse has won most classes he goes into. He's really brilliant.
"It's a different thing up here. Although South Island has had incredible shows, we don't have as many people so you never know until you get up here."
She described her stallion, which turns 11 in May, "incredibly talented and one-in-a-million horse".
Her confidence in Centavos never wavered.
"I know the horse could have won it because he's brilliant. The thing with horses is that anything can happen so you have to be ready for that.
"I just had to keep calm and do my job," she said, putting it down to a horse-and-mount construction works but "you can't do it without the horse".
But her self-effacing stance didn't detract from the significance of the rider's dexterity.
"At that level it becomes quite technical -- the courses -- so you have different strides between the fences . . . so you have to communicate that to the horse because, ultimately, they have to get to the jump and have the ability to do the job."
Playing a game of patience in nurturing the mount to a pedigree standard is something that often blends to the backdrop on a victory dais.
Hay isn't just the face of success but someone who yearns to have a hands-on approach with her charges.
"We have a stallion stud so we have a lot of young horses so once they are broken in then I take them on from there . . . and training people. That's my business."
Born in an equine-loving family, Hay built an affinity with everything horsey without blinking. She was only eight when the competitive arena beckoned.
The former Otago Girls' High School pupil lauded some "brilliant coaches" such as Bay's Greg Best, who groomed her for the Show Pony of the Year when she was nine; June Purcell "was huge" and Jean Hamilton "who I learned a lot from".
"In the past five years I've been doing my own thing and try to watch online and videos of other trainers and riders [so] I get good ideas from that," she said, adding Mosgiel and its surrounds didn't offer too many instructors.
"The ones I need, including the international ones, don't come down to Dunedin," she said with a laugh.
The Hay family, who bought Centavos as a 3-year-old "green-broke" stallion from Germany, is now considering moving to Waikato from Mosgiel "for more shows and opportunities".
"They [parents] are great supporters and they help me all the way through. They are grooming my horses at the moment," she said with a beaming smile of her parents, Vicki and Peter Hay. "I couldn't do it without them."
Peter said: "She had the opportunity to prove that [she can ride] so she's done that really well today."
He and Vicki worked to support their 8ha stud and two standard stallions to keep the pot simmering, as it were, while Claudia pre-trained the animals.
"What you saw today is what Claudia has produced from a 3-year-old," Peter said of his daughter, who spent the first 12 months simply doing flat work with Centavos to develop a modicum of rapport.
Part of her job description is to import top quality mounts so yesterday's win is an affirmation that the family stud is going shopping in the right market - Germany.
Hay has Olympic aspirations but "it's an expensive sport".
"It's happened, that's great, but my main thing is producing the top horses so it's really how far I can go and grab whatever opportunities I can get."
Asked what she would do with the prizemoney, Hay quipped: "Pay some bills."
The Hays left today on a 15-plus-hour drive home but they will take breaks to avoid fatigue after six hectic days that also clinched Claudia Leading Rider of the Show crown.
Not only is she the first Southerner to win the $200,000 cup since the 1970s, she and Centavos also nailed the McMillan Equine Feeds Silver Fern Stakes on Friday night, the second most lucrative class in the HOY Show.
Sleeping was on the top of Claudia's agenda "because it's been a big trip and a bit of a stressful week but I'll probably have a party when we get home".
