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Gritty Matamata mare Perfect Start earned herself a return visit to Awapuni this coming weekend for a tilt at the at the feature race on the programme when she took out the MacDonald’s Manawatu Cup Prelude.

The five-year-old daughter of Perfectly Ready showed that the 2300 metres of the upcoming Gr. 3 Hotel Coachman Manawatu Cup would hold no fears when she produced an irresistible home straight burst to down pacemaker Dubai Belle and record the sixth win of her 35 start career to date.

Trainer Wayne Hillis was delighted with the victory and was quick to praise rider Sam Spratt for the initiative she showed early in the race.

“Sam summed the race up nicely when she put her on the speed early on and that probably won her the race,” noted Hillis.

“It took most of the home straight to head off the pacemaker which she couldn’t have done if she was positioned further back in the running.

“She can be a funny thing at the barriers but Sam got her away well and she did the job in good fashion at the end.”

Hillis was pleased the mare had mastered the step up to 2000 metres for the event after racing over a mix of shorter distances in her campaign to date.

“I’ve always thought of her as a staying prospect but she had been racing well over the shorter distances of late without having a lot of luck,” he said.

“She showed enough during her winter campaign in Brisbane that she would cope with a middle distance and we do have her nominated for some of the staying features at Ellerslie over the next couple of months so I was confident the journey wouldn’t trip her up.

“As it turned out the cut in the track was perfect for her so if she could get similar conditions this coming weekend she will be competitive in what looks like being a fairly similar line up to Saturday’s contest.”

Safely through the Awapuni summer feature Perfect Start will then head to the Gr. 3 City Of Auckland Cup at Ellerslie on New Year’s Day after which Hillis will reassess her future summer racing options.