KEY POINTS:
Satinka could go down as the most underrated 3-year-old filly all season.
For the second straight week she scored maximum New Zealand Bloodstock Filly of the Year points, yet the debate over just who is our best rages on.
Insouciant tainted Satinka's Eight Carat Stakes victory on Boxing Day because she's not comfortable on the right-handed track. And the injured Lovetrista took the rest of the sheen off the win by not fronting up.
The other early title contender, Keepa Cruisin, was a late scratching through injury before they even jumped in the Royal Stakes.
A procession of crippling bumps on the corner took care of the rest.
While rider Bruce Herd secured Satinka's second-straight, race-winning passage, Keffiya, Lanbrae and Pretty Vegas all had their chances wiped out by interference.
Connections of third-placed Keffiya and fourth-placed Lanbrae fired in protests against runner-up Kaatoon.
But the judicial committee decided that while there was slight movement out from Kaatoon, the Roger James trained filly couldn't take the blame for the flow-on effect and dismissed both protests.
"It definitely cost her the race and Mark [Du Plessis] said it did," said Lanbrae's trainer Brian McKeagg.
"We were very confident she could win today; this is a good filly.
"But she's such a laidback horse you can never really get a line on her from her trackwork."
McKeagg said he would now give Lanbrae a short break before setting her for her main assignment, the New Zealand Oaks in March.
Rider Gavin McKeon blamed Run Roxy Run for most of the dramas.
But he said Kaatoon, racing in blinkers for the first time, didn't help herself by star-gazing.
