Lance O'Sullivan claimed another big race win when he rode Vinaka to a comfortable victory in the $100,000 Telegraph Handicap (1200m) at Trentham yesterday.
The Jim Gibbs-trained three-year-old settled in behind the pace and shot clear 200m from home to score from Life Of Riley, with pacemaker Spring Rain third.
In hisprevious start, Vinaka ran second to Sound The Alarm in New Zealand's other big sprint - the Railway Handicap at Ellerslie on January 1 - after working hard from a wide draw.
O'Sullivan opted for the ride on Vinaka ahead of stablemate Butterscotch, who was ridden by in-form Australian Scott Seamer but never featured in the finish.
Travellin' Man, who vied for favouritism with Vinaka and Butterscotch, ran on strongly for fourth.
Veteran jockey Noel Harris, who rode Nasa Pearl to victory in the $150,000 Mercedes Benz Prelude (1200m) for two-year-old colts and geldings, predicts more success for the Pearl Racing Stables horse.
Harris said Nasa Pearl also showed the maturity of an older horse when he went for a gap between runner-up Provarci and third-placed Pulitzer.
"He was half there and half not. Most two-year-olds would back off but he knuckled down to it.
"It was the difference between winning and losing."
