The Carston Racing team had plenty to celebrate on Thursday after posting a winning double at Riccarton on the synthetic track.
Trainer Andrew Carston has been a supporter of the new surface and that has paid dividends with several of the team thriving on the poly.
Connections celebrate Megalomaniac's win on Thursday. Photo: Riccarton Park Racecourse Facebook
Hunter Villain got proceedings underway with a brave effort to win the Stallion Tender Open Now R75 (1600m).
Ridden by Kylie Williams, he travelled under a hold allowing Vee Twelve to set the early pace before starting to reel in the leaders when coming around the final bend.
After Vee Twelve faded in the straight Hunter Villain and Jin Lu battled it out in the final stages with the Carston runner getting his nose in front on the line to win by a half head.
Hunter Villain digs deep to get the win at Riccarton on the synthetic track. Photo: Riccarton Park Racecourse Facebook
“Hunter Villain is just an old war horse,” Carston said of the eight-year-old son of Darci Brahma. “He has been consistent all prep and it is good to see him get another win on the board.”
“He’s in fine form and we don’t have any set plans going forward, we’ll just see how he comes through this.”
Owned by Terry Lines, Hunter Villain now has six wins to his credit and has run in the money in five of his last six starts.
Later in the day Megalomaniac continued his affinity with the synthetic track posting his second consecutive win.
Since the track opened he has had six starts on the poly for three wins and two runner up finishes.
“Megalomaniac has turned out to be a poly track specialist - he just loves it,” Carston said. “He has won there three times now and deserves a holiday so will go out for a spell now.
“It was a great ride from Lisa (Allpress) and there were a few of his ownership on track yesterday which was great to see, they are good supporters of the stable so was nice to have them there to celebrate the win.”