Gondokoro began fairly well from her inside draw (1) and settled nicely about ninth on the rails, travelling smoothly. She improved nicely to seventh (still on the rails) at the 600m before switching out to be in a challenging position on straightening. She dashed clear at the 200m and drew away to win impressively by almost three lengths in a strong staying performance. Miss Zenella raced just past midfield on the rails. She improved nicely coming to the turn and switched out on straightening, put in a strong run in the centre of the track at the 200m, and then fought on particularly well for a very good second. It was only her sixth start and she is a very promising staying-bred filly. Vaquera was about twelfth and improved between runners at the 600m. She was ‘in traffic’ on turning for home before getting clear at the 200m and she then ran on very well for a good third. It was a very nice effort. Just As Cosmic was handy most of the way and battled on for fourth while the favourite Dear Demi was a handy seventh on the rails but pulled badly in the slow early pace, racing in blinkers for the first time, and disappointed in finishing seventh. *ANZ