It was no soft win, Sakhee's Soldier was five wide on the home bend and kept going strongly to outfinish the five-time group one winner Veyron, who fought back bravely late.
Sakhee's Soldier has not raced beyond Saturday's 1600m and his future now will need to be reviewed, as will his rating and, therefore, handicap after winning Saturday's special conditions race as a Rating 86 horse.
The question is whether he will stretch his distances to 2000m, which will offer a much wider range of options. "He probably will," says Forsman. "He relaxes pretty well when he's put in a nice spot in his races, so he should get out to 2000m."
Veyron is aiming at the 2000m Zabeel Classic at the Ellerslie carnival and as a trial for that race Saturday's effort was perfect.
Linda Laing has brought the veteran along steadily and this last race should top him off for his group one goal. His last 400m on Saturday was that of a 2000m horse.
The form was interesting. Shandream stuck on reasonably well for third and little-fancied Packing Tycoon was solid in running on well into fourth, after being wide on the home bend.
Peter Hutt and Cambridge trainer Roger James were good mates in Canterbury as teenagers and it's a surprise to many that Saturday's $50,000 Trevor Eagle Memorial 3YO winner, Tavy, is the first horse they've combined with.
James trains the impressive Tavy for the breeder, the Dowager Duchess of Bedford, Hutt and his business partner Filiberto Rayon-Villela.
"Peter said he wanted a share in a horse with me and I bought this filly at the sales off the Duchess and she decided to stay in for a share," said James, who is excited about Tavy's future. "Vinnie Colgan didn't touch her to win there and she's got a lot in front of her."
The winner underlined the enormous potential of Cambridge Stud stallion Tavistock, who also produced the second-placed Midnightmagicman, who came from last with a dashing late finish. He will not be a maiden much longer.
Two horses dead-heating then both trainers protesting is not your garden-variety maiden race inquiry. It was interesting.
Margaret Carter, trainer of first starter Talented Kirky, protested against The Show, trained by Nigel Tiley, who lodged a counter-claim.
The electronic vision showed Talented Kirky and Mark Sweeney lugged in on top of The Show at the 250m, after which The Show came out and took Talented Kirky out a couple of horse widths.
Because neither rider at any stage stopped riding hard, Opie Bosson with the whip in the right hand and Sweeney with his persuader in the left, it left the JCA stewards with a tough decision.
The end result to let the original deadheat stand was a good call.
But a tip - if you're done for murder, Nigel Tiley wouldn't be your worst choice as defence lawyer.
There is an irony in Pukekohe trainer Richard Collett being a strong advocate for his apprentice Zinjete Moki.
When Moki first applied to be a licensed apprentice with Collett, he turned her down.
"You're not dedicated enough and you're too heavy," she was told.
Moki linked with fellow Pukekohe trainer Gareth McRae and when he made the decision to relocate to Australia she reapplied with Collett and this time she was accepted.
"Zinjete had gone to Australia to ride work with Anthony Cummings and I told her she had developed the thing I felt she originally lacked, which was dedication."
Moki looked impressive kicking out the Collett-trained Cartell to win at Ellerslie on Saturday. Her balance set her apart from a lot of apprentices and she has the strength to punch horses hard to the line in the final strides, which was important in the closing strides on Saturday in a close finish with Onlyarose.
"It helps that Zinjete is a bit older and is therefore stronger than a lot of apprentices," said Collett.
