"Don't be disappointed, I'm not, it was a good run."
But on the day Nigelissima was better.
She was probably always going to have to drop back to the tail early over the 2100m after starting from the outside barrier, but even then she refused to settle.
She gave Alysha Collett an awkward ride.
"She's always like that," said co-trainer Emma-Lee Browne, "she's like it at home."
Asked if it was an experience thing, Browne said: "She's difficult - she's a girl."
Browne said it was extremely likely Nigelissima would be back at Ellerslie for the final of the Championship Stakes.
"It makes sense, that was a pretty good run."
Opie Bosson positioned Show The World fourth on the outside without a trail and the highly talented 3-year-old relaxed, probably a bit too much.
He looked to hit a flat spot and appeared likely to drift out at the 320m, but when Bosson drove him hard he started to concentrate.
Getting to the front was not ideal; Show The World started to loaf again on his own and Nigelissima claimed him easily in the closing 100m.
"Oh well, back to the drawing board," said Murray Baker. "He'll be fine, Opie's sure all he needs is the blinkers."
Satay finished third ahead of King Savinsky and Fast Dragon.
Earlier on the card, Noel Harris thought he was in a time warp 400m before winning on Jubilate.
Harris was locked away behind the leaders on the rail turning into the home straight.
Normally you'd be okay - leaders roll away from the rail these days, unlike decades past when if a rider failed to protect the rail passage late in the race they risked being kicked in the backside until their nose bled.
We've said it before - there are jockeys still waiting to get up inside retired topliner Roger Lang. Harris realised he was back to modern times when the leader, Trendy, rolled away from the rail and he drove Jubilate through to score narrowly.
Under 59kg topweight, the winner could not have got the victory if he had gone around one horse.
Matamata trainer Graeme Richardson has always had a good opinion of Jubilate, now a 5-year-old by Falkirk.
"Last season, he had a deep-seated stone bruise that took six months to work itself out. We basically lost an entire season with him."
Richardson said he would aim Jubilate towards the Rich Hill Mile on January 1.
