The Informant reports ...

No Tricks rounded off a big season for breeders and prominent owners Paul and Cushla Smithies with a breakthrough black-type victory in the Listed NZ Bloodstock Warstep Stakes at Riccarton today.

On the same track that the Smithies-bred Platinum Witness won the Gr. 1 NZ Bloodstock 1000 Guineas last November, No Tricks reversed the placings from last Saturday's NZ Bloodstock Airfreight Stakes result.

In that 1600-metre race she had gone down by a head to local filly Consensus, but this time she put half a length on her rival as she relished the step up to 2000 metres for the final race in the NZ Bloodstock Southern Filly of the Year series.

The effort by Consensus held plenty of merit after she had been left in front soon after straightening and by finishing second maintained her Southern Filly title lead.

No Tricks has shown promise right from the start, winning her maiden at her second start in the spring and putting together a string of fourth placings in the Great Northern Guineas, Mr Tiz Trophy and Wellington Guineas before her trainer Jason Bridgman set her for the Riccarton features.

“It's so valuable to get a black type for these three-year-old fillies,” commented stable spokesman Jamie Richards after David Walsh had brought No Tricks back to scale. “Being a Savabeel filly she was always going to enjoy this trip and Walshy was able to give her a lovely trip from the inside draw.

“It's been another big team effort capped off by the job Steve O'Neill has done with this filly since she came south and it's very satisfying to get a stakes win for Paul and Cushla Smithies.”

The other star performer from the Smithies' Monovale Farm has been Puccini, last year's New Zealand Derby winner and successful again this season at Group One level in the Thorndon Mile.

Third place in the Warstep Stakes went to southern filly Belle Miraaj, who did well after settling well back and having to make her run wide. She just held third from Platinum Command, with Choice wilting to fifth ahead of the pacemaker Savannah Somoya.