Local trainer Rosie Gibbs made a welcome return to the winner’s stall following Glimmer’s commanding debut performance in the Treadwell Gordon 1200 at Waverley on Thursday.

A better barrier draw will keep Grid Girl at home for the Mornington Guineas.

Talented filly No Rain Ever has yet to fully convince connections that she can be effective over more ground, and she will have the opportunity to bury any doubts on that score at Riccarton.

An impressive performance in Saturday’s Stella Artois (1600m) at Pukekohe capped a breakthrough autumn for Billy Lincoln, who has strung together three successive victories over the last five weeks.

A drop back in distance paid dividends for progressive filly Nepheti when she bounced back to winning form at Ellerslie in a three-year-old 1400m contest.

After spending most of the afternoon tossing up whether or not to scratch Complicate from Saturday’s Snow Williams Bayleys Country (1600m) at Tauranga, Matamata trainer Wayne Hillis decided to roll the dice and was richly rewarded.

Schooling over fences has brought a new lease on life for Mahoe, with the six-year-old gelding having won two of his last three races.

Stakes targets are beckoning exciting gelding Nereus following his win over a mile at Trentham on Saturday.

Te Akau Racing’s The Mighty Spar made it back-to-back wins in the Holster Engineering Lally And Symes South Waikato Cup (2000m) at Matamata on Wednesday.