KEY POINTS:
After two years between drinks Matamata trainer Vanessa Hillis is tipping Dezigna to get that old winning feeling back on his home course today.
Now a sprightly seven-year-old, Dezigna hasn't scored since taking a PQ 1300m event at Ellerslie in November, 2004.
But Hillis and training partner, husband
Wayne, have watched Dezigna - or just Thomas as he's known around the stable - notch up a frustrating run of minor group and listed cheques ever since.
From Railway Handicaps to Telegraphs and Concordes, Dezigna has been in the thick of it without ever quite having the speed, or in most cases luck, to finally get his name on a trophy.
His last campaign in Brisbane was a classic example.
After consolation cheques against Queensland's best sprinters, he was charging into contention to win a deserved six figure prize at Eagle Farm when rider Matt Cahill dropped his whip.
Cahill came back to scale convinced his blunder cost Dezigna the edge he needed over Kiwi rival Atapi that day.
But Vanessa Hillis, for one, is confident the best could still be ahead for her luckless stable pet who has the Telegraph and Thorndon Mile on his summer schedule.
Dezigna's four runs back from a spell have shown her that although seven now, Dezigna is only just starting to mature.
His close-up last start fourth at Riccarton in the group two Coupland's Bakeries Mile proves he remains a serious black-type contender.
Rider Opie Bosson, who has the mount again today, said the gelding wasn't suited by the slow early pace in the Mile and was a little flat footed in the sprint home.
Dezigna, though, still finished just over a length behind upset winner Delbrae.
Hillis admits today's assignment wasn't originally a next-up option for Dezigna, who has thrived since the trip south.
He was again being set for a crack at yesterday's Concorde, a race he'd finished third in over the previous two years.
"But we really wanted to give him the chance to win again, that's why he's running at Matamata," said Hillis.
"We thought we'd go with the easier option, but the field has turned out to be better than we thought it would be."
Rivals include group performers Rags To Riches, Shastri, and Everswindell.
While Dezigna heads stable hopes today, Hillis saddles each-way chances with all her other runners today; Eight Belles, Miss Tuff and Kiri.
She says Eight Belles will relish the step up to 2000m, debutante Miss Tuff is a talented filly who should be running home strongly near the finish, and race eight emergency Kiri is ready to strike after a luckless last start.