A plucky front-running victory from Batman brought a deserved piece of joy to Neil Ridley’s stable on Saturday after the Riccarton local had endured a tragic loss just seven days earlier.

Ridley had the misfortune to lose veteran galloper King Montrose to a raceday incident on the first day of the New Zealand Cup Carnival but had his spirits lifted when his seven-year-old Falkirk gelding led all the way to capture the Mohua Premier Open (1400m).

Superbly rated by northern rider Mark Du Plessis, Batman repelled a serious of home straight challenges to score by half a length from Maybe Miami with Wednesday’s Gr. 2 Coupland’s Bakeries Mile third placegetter Nashville filling a similar position on the weekend.

Ridley was philosophical about his contrasting fortunes when interviewed after the victory.

“It was a sad day last week but that’s racing and we will just put it behind us,” he said.

“This guy is a pretty good galloper. He’s not sound but he’s pretty honest.

“I think the wee bit further made the difference today.”

Batman had run a gallant third on Wednesday in the Gr. 3 Lindauer Steward’s Stakes (1200m) with Du Plessis confident he had a fit horse under the saddle for Saturday’s contest.

“He led easily over 1200m the other day and I got a very soft lead today,” he said.

“There’s not a lot of quickening with him as he gets to a point and then stays at that speed but he did enough today.

“I was confident as I knew from the first day he was fit enough and he let down nicely.”

The victory was the first of a double for Du Plessis who scored on former northerner Tiara Concerto later in the programme.