Power Surge at her first harness racing start, took on a large field some of which had won a race, drew the outside of the second row and still beat her twelve rivals easily.
"She was trained by Terry McMillan and was specifically sent south to target the Southland Oaks Final," said new trainer Alister Black.
The Changeover filly had had three workout wins for McMillan in March last year before qualifying in April. She has been with Black since November having two workout runs for him for a second to the promising Foo Fighter and winning at Winton last week.
Driver Brad Williamson had the three year old smartly away from the stand and quickly slotted her into the one one.
With 400 metres to run Williamson eased Power Surge out and with plenty of encouragement she hit the lead halfway up the straight and won easily by two and a quarter length from a brave Navajo Art.
Power Surge is out of the Washington VC mare Shine Alight and is another horse that traces back to Colin Bayne's breed.
"I actually drove her grandmother (Light Up My Holme)."
Light Up My Holme was trained by Denise Swain and Black drove her to win at Invercargill in April 2005. She won by a nose and paid $21.25 to win.
Power Surge is owned by Tama Kingi who is a son of Denise Swains, and resides in Australia. He's also a long time friend of Alister Black.
Winning fans Photo Bruce Stewart
Not too much has been seen of the Black colours recently as his Branxholme stable has been hit by a virus.
"We've had a bit of a bug and it still rears it head every now and then but we're on top of it now."
There's a bit of a buzz around this filly. The buzz does carry a few warnings though and one of those is not to stand too close to her back legs. "Yes she's a bit of a madam."
Black says if she's good enough she'll line up in the Southland Oaks Final and some thought has been given to sending her to Australia for the opportunities there.
Bruce Stewart
Southland Harness Racing