Andrew Carston was left feeling confident his racing team was on target for spring racing after a successful two days of racing.
Carston travelled south to Timaru on Friday with a 10-strong team expecting the horses to benefit from the day out.
“Most of mine were either inexperienced young ones or fresh up,” Carston said. “Most of them went pretty good and I was happy with the day overall.
“It was good to get them underway for the spring and get a good track.”
Five-year-old mare Severine scored her third career win when resuming in the Temuka Hotel 1200.
The Go Racing-owned daughter of Pins jumped smartly and travelled mid field for jockey Kozzi Asano.
She let down nicely on the straight, fighting Straight Sets to the finish and getting in front on the line to win by a head.
Carston said Severine continues to improve as she matures and that the strong performance came as no surprise as she had been working well leading into the race.
“I think she has come back really strong,” he said. “A lot stronger than last year.
“I thought her trial was good so we were expecting a pretty good run even though she will improve off that.
“I thought it was a really good ride and she got the money so I think we are in for a good preparation with her.”
Carston is aiming to have Severine peaking for Cup Week in November.
“We want her on song for Cup Week,” Carston said. “So there is no panic with her and it will be probably three or four weeks between runs with her.”
The stable also recorded placings with Miss Oaks who ran third in the NZB Insurance Pearl Series Maiden (1600m) and Reliably Perky who finished third in his 2200m event.
On Sunday Keep Quiet continued to build his record with a win at Wingatui on Otago Cup day.
The four-year-old gelding has put in some solid performances this preparation, confirming Carston’s opinion of him.
“I think he is quite a nice horse,” Carston said. “He is putting together a pretty good record and I thought his last run was pretty good so we were confident he would run well.
“Again it was a nice ride from Kozzi.”
Carston feels the son of Keeper is coming to the end of his preparation and will monitor the tracks before confirming any future plans.
“I think he will be better in another preparation,” Carston said. “He is putting together a pretty good record but I will just see how he goes.
“I don’t think he will like really firm tracks so I will have to be careful how much further I go with him in this preparation.
“He will probably have one more run and then go to the paddock.”