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Janelle Millar can’t fault Te Hana’s condition and she is banking on a change of riding tactics to return the mare to her best form at New Plymouth on Friday.

“She’s doing extremely well, but it’s been so frustrating in her last few starts when she’s got so far back and had too much ground to make up,” the Taranaki trainer said.

Te Hana will step up to 1800 metres in the La Nuova Apparelmaster Handicap, in which she will be reunited with Johnathon Parkes who has won three times on the mare.

“We’ll be telling him to get going early on her,” Millar said. “She’s got all the ability in the world and she’s a lot better than her last few races.”

Te Hana opened her current preparation in fine style when she won a Rating 85 event at the Pukekura Raceway and then finished sixth in the Gr.3 Taranaki Breeders’ Stakes before two unplaced efforts.

“When she gets up against open company she can’t give them a big head start and in the Breeders’ Stakes there was no pace on and that made it even harder for her,” Millar said.

“We’ve tried to ride her a bit handier, but then she didn’t finish off. We’ll let her find her feet and just get going a lot sooner.”

The free-going four-year-old Saint Emilion is in a rich vein of form with two wins and a placing from his last three starts and he promises to go boldly again while a drop back in class should be appreciated by Te Awamutu Cup runner-up Biologist.