Foxton galloper at home in Bay

He may come from Foxton, but Hawke's Bay is quickly becoming a second home for Firstwedance, the impressive winner of yesterday's DMP Metric Mile at Hastings.

Firstwedance's form has had its ups and downs so far this season, but every trip to Hawke's Bay has produced a high-quality performance.

In October, he flashed home late for a strong third to Albus in Rating 80 company at Hastings; in December, only stablemate Royal Delite came between him and victory in the Summer Cup at Waipukurau. Yesterday's determined performance to narrowly defeat favourite Celebration completed a treble of performances that would each rank among the best of his career.

Firstwedance was ridden by Hayden Tinsley for trainers David Haworth and Matt Dixon. It was yet another win for a prolific trainer-jockey combination that has had success at all levels in Auckland, Christchurch and almost everywhere in between. They're a familiar sight at all the major carnivals around the country, including the Hawke's Bay Spring Carnival, where they inevitably score at least one big win every year. In 2011 they combined to score in a strong $40,000 race with top stayer Smoking Chimneys.

Firstwedance may not be quite at that horse's level, but he showed plenty of ability and courage yesterday and has now won three of his 18 starts for prize money in excess of $25,000.

The admirably consistent Celebration lost no admirers in this short-neck defeat, and local Dee Dee Smash recorded yet another minor placing. The Murray Baker-trained Selador was a little disappointing in fourth, another length and a quarter behind. It was a performance that made the New Zealand Oaks, her goal for this campaign, seem a long way away.

But you wouldn't say the same about her stablemate, Vaayala, who stylishly won the very next race on the programme. She too is Oaks-bound, and for her that dream looks far more attainable. The Volksraad filly had been third in each of her first three races, improving noticeably each time and seemingly crying out for more ground. Her improvement stepped up a notch at her fourth start yesterday as Vaayala broke through for a maiden victory with an impressive display. She is now considered a $41 chance for the Oaks, run at Trentham on March 17.

She wasn't the only winner yesterday from whom we can expect much more in the future. Crosslands, a 3-year-old filly on debut, ran away to a dazzling four-and-a-half length win in a blistering time of 1:10.19 for the 1200m in the Profruit NZ 3yo. We had New Zealand's premier sprint race, the Telegraph Handicap, last weekend, but perhaps this O'Reilly filly's owners and trainer Francis Finnegan are looking 51 weeks into the future after that display.

Glad, another 3-year-old filly, drew away to a two-and-a-half length win in the Waimea Nurseries Maiden a performance that did justice to the Waikato Stud colours and one which hinted at a bright future.