AUSTRALIAN hopes of a local feature staying race winner in Melbourne this spring were bolstered yesterday when last year's Caulfield Cup winner Southern Speed once again outgunned a hot field of imports to win the group 2 Makybe Diva Stakes at Flemington, reports the Sunday Age. It says: The Adelaide mare, who has entries for the Caulfield and Melbourne cups, as well as for the Cox Plate, was ridden against her general pattern but managed to stick her head out and hold off the finishing sprint o

AUSTRALIAN hopes of a local feature staying race winner in Melbourne this spring were bolstered yesterday when last year's Caulfield Cup winner Southern Speed once again outgunned a hot field of imports to win the group 2 Makybe Diva Stakes at Flemington, reports the Sunday Age.

It says: The Adelaide mare, who has entries for the Caulfield and Melbourne cups, as well as for the Cox Plate, was ridden against her general pattern but managed to stick her head out and hold off the finishing sprint of last season's triple group 1 winner Manighar.

In March, Southern Speed and Manighar went to the line together in the Australian Cup, with the import nosing out the mare, but the five-year-old mare turned the tables yesterday. ''She's obviously come back really well and was still able to beat them, although the race was not run to suit,'' a delighted trainer Leon Macdonald said. ''She was a bit too close [in the run] but you can't knock winning.''

Craig Williams, who partnered Southern Speed to her Caulfield Cup win last year, positioned the mare right on the speed set by Dance With Her and Shenzhou Steeds, but while Macdonald was worried the tactic might take away from her finishing sprint, Southern Speed held on.

On the line, the $4.20 chance was just a nose in front of Manighar ($3.30 favourite), with two lengths to the remarkable Moudre ($51), who was having his first run for 18 months after suffering a tendon injury.

Southern Speed firmed to $18 second favourite for the Caulfield Cup, while Moudre's odds were slashed from $81 to $21. Macdonald said he would wait for the Underwood Stakes at Caulfield later this month before he mapped out a plan for the spring. ''You've always got plenty of options with a horse like this but it'll be either the Cox Plate or Caulfield Cup, as I doubt you could do both."