The pair entered a duel down the home straight, opening up several lengths on their rivals.
Tardis continued to maintain his advantage, proving too tough in the end to win by one-and-a-half lengths over Raymond, who flew home late to nab second by a nose over Just The Berries.
“We definitely had plenty of confidence, he worked with Sneaky Cyclone on Thursday and Sneaky couldn’t get past him,” Miller said.
“Today is the first time where he has found the front nicely and he has always been a horse that when he does get to the front, he doesn’t like horses getting past him.
“The favourite has shown plenty at the trials, but he (Tardis) has got that race day experience and he has done a lot of work for a 2-year-old, so he is quite mature, and I knew he would be in for the fight.”
Miller has plenty to contemplate over the coming days, with several options for Tardis over winter, while spring 3-year-old targets are also in the mix.
“He definitely can go on a wet track, he has worked well on a very wet track,” Miller said. “He can go on top of the ground as well, so whether we just look after him for the spring, we will just see.”
With strong gusts throughout the meeting, the wind picked up before the start of race five, blowing over several sections of the running rail.
Despite the best efforts of track staff, the decision was made to abandon the meeting, citing safety concerns.
“The wind has picked up throughout the day,” stipendiary steward Brady Jones said.
“A section just past the winning post, prior to the start of race five and horses being loaded, fell over.
“The track crew did attempt to fix that but they weren’t having much luck and as soon as they finished that another section fell over near the 100m.
“They went to attend to that and the section that they had just fixed fell over again, so we brought the riders back from the start, we spoke with all the riders, and the decision was made to abandon the meeting.
“With how strong the wind is, you couldn’t guarantee that the rail wasn’t going to fall down throughout the rest of the day, so I think it was a fairly straightforward decision, unfortunately.”
– LOVERACING.NZ News Desk