New Zealand's racing marvel Sir Slick, who almost died of rat poisoning at Christmas, was back to his brilliant best on Saturday to win his third Awapuni Gold Cup.The eight-year-old trounced favourites Red Ruler and Vosne Romanee in the Group Two race."We were always confident Slick would win yesterday - he had his angry eyes on," Paul Allbon, who trains the horse in partnership with Graeme Nicholson, told NZPA.But the win was tinged with sadness as the man credited with saving Sir Slick's life

New Zealand's racing marvel Sir Slick, who almost died of rat poisoning at Christmas, was back to his brilliant best on Saturday to win his third Awapuni Gold Cup.

The eight-year-old trounced favourites Red Ruler and Vosne Romanee in the Group Two race.

"We were always confident Slick would win yesterday - he had his angry eyes on," Paul Allbon, who trains the horse in partnership with Graeme Nicholson, told NZPA.

But the win was tinged with sadness as the man credited with saving Sir Slick's life at Christmas died suddenly on Thursday.

Veterinarian Graeme Waugh had a suspected heart attack. His funeral will be held in Te Aroha on Tuesday.

In the emotional aftermath of the win, Nicholson, the senior partner in the training set-up, said he would parade Sir Slick at the funeral as a tribute.

But Allbon said on Sunday the trainers would discuss with the Waugh family first whether that was appropriate.

"Graeme was only 52, it's too young to be going," he said.

Allbon said that it was still not known who mixed rat poison into Sir Slick's feed at Christmas, but the war horse went close to dying.

"He was so close to death it was unbelievable. On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, we thought he was going to die, but Graeme (Waugh) acted very quickly about what he thought was the problem and he was spot-on.

"He saved Slick."

The horse's recovery had taken some time, but in the past month he had shown he was getting back to his best.

Samantha Collett, who rode Sir Slick to win the Tauranga Classic last year, was the winning rider on Saturday replacing Michael Walker who opted to ride Spectacular Icon who finished fourth.

"She rode him perfectly. She let him get rolling and when Borrack took him on, she settled him in behind and let him have a breather," Allbon said.

At the top of the straight, Sir Slick charged to the lead and won by 1-3/4 lengths from Manonamission and Red Ruler with Vosne Romanee running on strongly for fourth.

It was Sir Slick's 22nd win from 117 starts for a return of $NZ1.95 million ($A1.51 million).

He also won the Cup in 2007 and 2008.

Sir Slick will run in the Group One Easter Handicap (1600m) at Ellerslie on April 17, provided the handicapper does not give him too much weight.

Stablemate Time Keeper is likely to be one of his rivals following his win in the Group Three Manawatu Classic (2000m).

Time Keeper built up a commanding lead and maintained it all the way to the finish, beating the promising filly Utopia by six lengths.

"It was a breathtaking win. He smashed them," Allbon said.

Time Keeper, who finished fifth in the New Zealand Derby last month, is likely to head to Brisbane after the Easter Handicap with the Queensland Derby in mind.

Mark Du Plessis said Red Ruler would improve with the run as he heads toward the Singapore Cup while Vosne Romanee is likely to run in the Group One Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Randwick on April 24.