The New Zealand mare Zennista began well from her inside barrier (1) and settled third on the rails. She moved up three wide nearing the 600m, raced clear at the 200m and drew away to win easily by just over two lengths handing the heavy track very well. Voila Ici raced in second place before moving up to travel outside the leader (Za Magic) at the 1200m point. He took the lead approaching the home turn, was headed at the 200m, and then fought on well with his top weight (59.5kg) for a good second. Noted wet-tracker Rothera settled a distant last in the 13-horse field. He went along the rails from the 1200m (possibly in the worst going), improved to fourth rounding the home turn, and then kept plugging on in the straight to finish third, beaten five lengths. Last year’s winner Shenzhou Steeds ($3.30 favourite) raced in about sixth place to the 800m, switched between runners nearing the turn but was under pressure from that point. He kept plugging on in the heavy going over the final stages to finish fourth, beaten just under five and half lengths. *ANZ