Tait’s first ever stakes win

Saturday’s treble marked his most significant return in that role.

Another Gibbs protege, trainer Lance Noble, was also in great form on the weekend with an Ellerslie double by his rapidly emerging star Viadana and the talented Brave Centaur.

Viadana stepped up from a win at Ellerslie early last month to Group Three grade when she strolled home in the $70,000 Eagle Technology Stakes. The five-year-old mare, now the winner of six races for a group of enthusiasts having a ball under the Easdon No 4 Racing Syndicate banner, is poised to take her form to another level in the Group Two Rich Hill Mile at Ellerslie on New Year’s Day and then hopefully the Group One Thorndon Mile at Trentham.