New Zealand's last chance of a major racing win in Australia for the season has become even more challenging.
A lean few months on Australian soil for Kiwi-trained horses continued at Eagle Farm in Brisbane on Saturday when top Taranaki mare Coventina Bay could manage only seventh in the A$200,000 Dane Ripper, her first start on Australian soil.
Trainer Robbie Patterson is adamant his stable star will improve enormously with the outing but after other results over the weekend she may need to as she heads to the A$600,000 Tatts Tiara on the Sunshine Coast in 12 days.
Waiting for her there and headlining a potentially exceptional field may be Tofane, the New Zealand-bred mare who won Saturday's feature at Eagle Farm, the A$1.5 million Stradbroke Handicap.
Trained by expat horseman Mike Moroney, Tofane was set to be sold at the broodmare sale on the Gold Coast last month but was pulled out of that sale, a decision that paid huge dividends on Saturday.