Drum was one of the fine Auckland Cup winners and although it might require a stretch to imagine Rock Diva will be in the same staying class, the mare's performance yesterday was remarkable and erased some of the slightly lesser runs when more was expected after she came back from running huge races in the Queensland Oaks and Queensland Derby in the middle of last year.
"We've worked out it's a mistake to try and get them to come back from Queensland and perform in the spring. They leave the warm of Queensland and spell in the cold in New Zealand and they just don't thrive. Costa Viva and Sacred Star were both affected by that."
Pike nursed Rock Diva back to her best and set a plan to have the mare in the Auckland Cup with just 52kg.
"She probably should have won a few of the races she's been in, but some of the efforts were top class. We deliberately missed the City of Auckland Cup in preference for the Dunstan Final to keep her weight right."
That was probably the masterstroke - Rock Diva could not have sprinted from third-last approaching the home turn and still won had she been burdened with a decent weight.
The sprint she was able to put on for Mark Du Plessis from the home bend was spectacular.
"Apart from the barrier draw [originally No 17] we were pretty confident going into the race," said Tony Pike.
"I told Mark he'd have to drop back early and left the rest up to him."
Du Plessis said: "We ended up further back than I'd planned, but she was very relaxed."
Rock Diva was last when the field settled. Du Plessis almost casually angled the mare back inwards after moving forward from the 600m. The gaps kept opening and there was clear air ahead from the 350m, but what looked like too much ground to make up after similarly well-supported King Kamada drove to the front halfway down the home straight.
There was no stopping Rock Diva's sprint and she swept past King Kamada in the final 90m.
Ponderosa Miss was brave in finishing third ahead of Show The World, El Soldado and Benzini.
There is always one question asked about horses winning 3200m races these days - Melbourne Cup? Tony Pike looked as though he would have been happy had the question not been asked yesterday.
"She's shown she can run 3200m, whether she's up to a Melbourne Cup is another matter, but I suppose you have to put that in the mix.
"She can go for a decent spell now and come back in the spring."
History repeats at Ellerslie - 34 years later
•Tony Pike was in short pants when his parents, Vicky and Wayne, celebrated an Auckland Cup win with Drum.
•Now, there will be two Ellerslie victories hanging on the wall after Rock Diva's last-to-first victory yesterday.
•Winning jockey Mark Du Plessis was a little further back than planned but said the mare was relaxed before she let down.
