However, the pre-race plan for Matt Cameron to settle the long odds-on favourite off the pace from the widest gate went awry soon after barrier rise.
"We wanted to ride him back and have the last crack at them, but they weren't doing much early and he was going to be flushed out wide so Matt went forward," Logan said.
Hasselhoof worked into a handy spot and after hitting the front soon after straightening the son of Tavistock responded to the challenge of Smedley to draw clear and win by a length and a half.
"There's a lot more in store for him," Logan said.
Meanwhile, The Justice League may have had some hard luck stories behind him at Ruakaka yesterday, but he could also have been forgiven if he had missed out on a winning three-year-old return.
The Nigel Tiley-trained gelding went into the Tavistock Northland Breeders' Stakes without the benefit of a trial and he had to overcome a horror alley against a competitive field of Guineas hopefuls.
"He had to work hard from the outside gate and he really stuck to his guns," successful jockey Michael Coleman said.
The Justice League had to be ridden aggressively from the barrier to sit outside the leader Billy Mojo before he had that runner's measure into the straight.
"Halfway down I was still quite confident and he started to shorten up the last bit, but he kicked again when the others came at him," Coleman said. "He's a really promising horse and that was a strong field."
The Justice League showed his fighting qualities under pressure to hold off the late charge of Selfie with Rocanto also rounding off strongly for third.
- NZ Racing Desk
