Smart four-year-old First Five continued his stellar form with a powerful display to win Saturday’s Capistrano Lodge 1400 at Te Aroha.

The son of Almanzor showed early promise and was tested over middle-distance trips in his three-year-old and early four-year-old campaigns, but since reverting back to six and seven furlongs, he has been near unbeatable for Te Rapa trainer David Greene.

Since mid-December, First Five had won or placed in every appearance, including a close second last-start to subsequent Listed Flying Handicap (1400m) placegetter December at Matamata.

Greene had bypassed a rain-affected surface at Pukekohe on March 21, and lining up under the mountain at Te Aroha, First Five started second-favourite behind Perfect Dividends, who carried five and a half kilograms less than his 60.5kg impost.

As anticipated, Perfect Dividends flew the barriers and went straight to the lead, swiftly putting an eight-length margin on the remainder of the field. Meanwhile, jockey Warren Kennedy allowed First Five to settle second-last in a good rhythm, and on the home turn, he was giving the pacemaker a ten-length head start.

Despite the margin, First Five never looked under pressure and once the big gelding wound up, the race was all over as he pricked his ears across the line to score by a length to Perfect Dividends, with Ruach not far away in third.

“I thought it was a really impressive effort under the weight, to pick up a horse (Perfect Dividends) that is in pretty good form and can do it well in front with the weight swing,” Greene said.

“Warren Kennedy rode him very confidently and he was just so strong in that last 200m. I probably didn’t expect us to be quite as far back as we were, but the leader was running his own race as well and Warren could feel what was underneath him and had it under control.

“I was very happy.”

All five of the gelding’s victories have come on Good or Firm track conditions, something Greene is mindful of going forward into the rest of his preparation.

“We missed the wet track at Pukekohe, he’s definitely a better horse on top of the ground,” he said. “He’s had a couple of runs on slightly rain-affected tracks before and hasn’t been able to show his best.

“We’re not sure where we’ll go next, we had a quick chat about it after the race and thought we would defer for a couple of days and have a think about what we do now. We are running out of time a little bit and he’s been up for a while as well, but we’ll get together early next week and discuss that.”

First Five was the second foal to race out of Payette, a Volksraad mare who won six races and finished fourth in a Listed Newmarket Handicap (1200m). The gelding races in the well-known colours of his breeder Gerald Shand, who shares in the ownership with Jenna McLeod and Jackie and Philip Rogers.

From 14 attempts, he has earned over $113,000.