Irish-bred mare Now Or Later, who was having her fourth Australian start and her second run this preparation, staged an impressive performance in winning here. She settled in ninth place, behind a steady pace (first 800m 50.04). She improved between runners at the home turn, angled into clear running nearing the 200m and then sprinted quickly to grab a good win in the final strides. Merriest raced in tenth place, improved in a packing field coming to the home turn, moved up strongly to take the lead at the 200m only to be overhauled nearing the post to take second. Payroll raced in last place in the 14-horse field, tracked up (wide with cover) coming to the home turn, was in a challenging position at the 200m and then kept fighting on to take the minor placing while the favourite Petition was back in 12th place, was wide from the 600m and kept running on well for fourth, beaten just over a length.