Fourteen days later Pondarosa Miss won that group one.
Harris took it in his stride. "Look, I could have hung around and hung around and perhaps this time next year I'd have been getting around this birdcage in a walking frame."
Harris got the Pondarosa Miss ride when Daniel Hain broke a wrist in November. Hain got it back when Harris retired.
Daniel Hain's career has not exactly been smooth. Opportunities have been rare and everyone, including Noel Harris, was delighted for the 29-year-old.
If you wanted to award a ride of the day on Saturday, Hain almost certainly won it. With horses coming wide on the home bend for the second half of the programme, the home turn place to be was a few widths inside the outside rail, no more than one length from the leader and going forward.
Exactly where Hain had Ponderosa Miss.
"I'd made up my mind I was going to be outside Allez Eagle on the home bend," said Hain. "When I got up outside Allez Eagle he moved out and it pushed me into the better ground, which was perfect."
Ponderosa Miss staged a desperate home-straight struggle with a brave Vespa and it became a three-way affair when Kawi charged at the pair late. The decision was in doubt until the last stride and Hain thought Vespa had won. "We were a fair way apart and I thought Vespa got in the deciding stride."
Peter and Darrell Hollinshead know their mare well and have done a remarkable job to keep her at top through what many would consider a brutal campaign that included a third in the 3200m Auckland Cup on March 4.
You can't think of another horse that in two starts could come back from 3200m to win a group one 1600m.
Daniel Hain was surprisingly composed after achieving his career highlight. He wanted the credit to go to Ponderosa Miss.
"That going out there was very tough and the fact she'd had that racing behind her and the Auckland Cup, meant she was the fittest horse. She's an amazing mare."
Hain's love of the mare is such he says when Harris was riding her through an extended period he felt no pangs of envy. "I just wanted the mare to do well. I was very composed about it."
Harris seemed almost more pleased than the winning jockey.
"You know," he said as he lit his fag, yet again, "A lot of jockeys don't win group ones and Daniel now has. It's something he'll never forget."
Just when we were wondering when the next good stayer was going to appear along comes Werther.
That win in the Valachi Downs Championship Stakes at Ellerslie was the forerunner to some big deeds.
The upside to Werther is that he is so under-developed. He weighs a mere 460kg and looks weak. What he might achieve a year from now is exciting.
And that will vindicate the opinion of his Wairarapa trainer Andrew Campbell, who prepared Werther's sire Tavistock to win two group ones.
From day one the astute Campbell labelled Werther a topliner.
"There was always something about him," he said on Saturday. "He takes a long stride and will be a good horse when he matures."
Meantime, there is a decent chance Werther could be given a chance at the next level at the Queensland winter carnival.
Leith Innes was the replacement rider when Opie Bosson was stood down after the first race with rib injuries.
Auckland restaurateurs Mark Wallbank and Nigel Shanks decided to select their own purchase at the Karaka Festive Sale then took Nigel Tiley to look at the horse he was going to train for them.
The cheap purchase, Brighton won Saturday's $50,000 Buffalo & Co Champagne Stakes, the first horse they have had to the races.
Cambridge trainer Shaune Ritchie believes he finally has Chop Chop back on the right track.
Chop Chop has had tie-up issues and had also been tending to hold her breath during her races.
"One of the keys to her was taking the blinkers off her and allowing her to relax in her races," said Ritchie. "She could be a cups' mare next season."
Big day for Hain
*Te Awamutu jockey Daniel Hain enjoyed his biggest win when guiding Pondarosa Miss to victory in the Easter Hcp at Ellerslie on Saturday.
*The win was a credit to the horsemanship of her trainers after she ran third in the Auckland Cup early last month.
*Werther showed potential staying prowess with a solid finish to win the Valachi Downs Championship Stakes.
