Trainer Jamie Richards felt pride and relief when superstar Kiwi mare Probabeel returned with a win at Caulfield on Saturday.
The pride came from the now five-year-old being able to overcome her wide draw to in the A$200,000 Cockram Stakes, a Group 3 over a 1200m distance short of Probabeel's best.
And the relief came from Richards having made the right decision not to go to his initial aim with Probebeel, the A$1million Memsie Stakes, which was run two races after the Cockram.
Probabeel was heading that way until a minor setback two weeks ago but that was enough for Richards and her owners to change plans, even though she would have been one of the favourites for a race worth five times more.
"Watching that I think she would have been found out at weight-for-age over 1400m fresh-up so I think we pulled the right rein," says Richards, who watched the race from home in Matamata.