KEY POINTS:
Lady Cavalier took full advantage of a front-running speed war to record an effortless victory in the First Sovereign Trust Mile at Ellerslie yesterday.
The consistent 5-year-old was handled in patient fashion by jockey Craig Grylls sitting in third position against the rail and pounced quickly on the
hometurn.
Lady Cavalier quickly gathered in the leaders with a powerful sprint, one horse-width off the rail to score by a half-length over Young Centaur.
A further half-head away third was Golden Dollars.
The victory was a fitting reward for an unlucky last-start performance when she was placed sixth behind Sarajay in fillies and mares weight-for-age company at Te Rapa.
On that occasion Lady Cavalier nearly dislodged Grylls at the start of the race and ran into traffic problems with 300m still to run.
In that Te Rapa outing Lady Cavalier was friendless on the New Zealand TAB - an unwanted outsider - but punters took note of that performance and a huge drop in racing class to install her a $4.10 favourite yesterday.
Ellerslie has been a happy hunting ground for the Cambridge-trained mare who has scored one win and three minor placings from six starts.
Leith Innes rode the perfect tactical race aboard Railway Handicap contender Magic Tryst to defeat hot favourite Mr Shanghai in a speed duel during the feature sprint.
Innes took immediate control of the race charging straight to the front. Mr Shanghai was positioned just outside Magic Tryst and Innes poured on the pressure with a blistering closing 600m.
However Magic Tryst was in trouble with 100m remaining and had no answer to the blistering home stretch sprint unleashed by Cagney who scored by a head over Culminate.
A length away third was Magic Tryst. Mr Shanghai battled into fourth position a further 4 1/4 lengths away.
The 1200m was cut out in a slick time of 1:09.21.
Cagney was an 8-1 shot in pre-race betting and was kicking off a new campaign without the benefit of a trial outing after an eight-month break.
The 5-year-old was turned out in wonderful condition by Avondale-based trainers Matt, Michael and Matthew Rogers.
With three wins and two minor placings from seven starts, Cagney will be easy to place over the summer racing carnival as he lengthened stride effortlessly off a hot pace to record an impressive victory.
The Stephen Mckee juggernaut was in dominating form winning three races at Ellerslie.
Trudy Tee, Boomrock and Irish Opera posted impressive victories for McKee who has been in devastating form this season posting 23 wins.