GRAND Diva used her inside draw to perfection during Monday's Ladbrokes Cash In Pathways Stakes (307 metres) at Kennerson Park.
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The El Grand Senor bitch had been racing against tougher company of late but those experiences had clearly toughened her up for her latest sprint effort at Bathurst.
Grand Diva ($2.80) was somewhat fortuitous in her run when several challengers made a misstep on the turn for home, allowing her to take a relatively comfortable three metre win.
Misload ($8.50) had the edge on Wicks' runner until he drifted to the extreme outside of the track on the run into the straight.
"It was the right race for her and she got lucky too with the two running off to the middle of the track," he said.
"I'm hoping to get her back up [in distance] at some point. She's a really confident dog but she's had none of late so hopefully this picks her back up a bit more."
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The three inside starts all got away strongest, led by gate three dog Angelic Hand.
Misload and Grand Diva stayed hot on the tail of the leader going into the turn while favourite Opal King was left with a lot of work to do after a tough start.
It all went wrong for Angelic Hand on the bend as the $41 outsider faded badly.
Misload briefly took the lead before he lost too much ground going wide.
That left Grand Diva, who had no put a paw wrong, to storm home to victory along the inside rail.
Opal King ($2.30) recovered strongly to finish in third just over a length away from Misload.