Beginning steadily out of barrier five, the gelding landed in the death seat where he had to do it tough and race without cover for the duration of the event.

With a blistering last half clocked Aphorism fought on well to run third, only beaten 4.4 metres by the Jack Trainor-trained Stylish Memphis NZ.

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"I was really wrapped in his run," driver Anthony Frisby said.

"Stylish Memphis is a good horse and was just too good last night."

Aphorism was fresh off his biggest test yet after competing in the heats to harness racing's most prestigious event, the Inter Dominion.

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Though unable to secure a spot in the final, the hard racing topped the gelding off and he has put in some nice performances since, including winning the Quambys Stayers Cup at Dubbo in December.

"All his starts since the Inter Dominion heats have been quite good," Frisby said.

Bathurst's second representative in the Group 3 on Saturday night was the Amanda Turnbull-trained and driven Bundoran NZ, who came up with the widest draw in the event, gate 11.

Restrained to the rear of the field, the gelding had a big task ahead of him when the leader Mach Da Vinci NZ was able to steal a slow 31 second quarter.

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Running home in a scorching 53.7 last half made it extremely difficult for the back markers to make ground, and although finishing eighth the gelding still produced a commendable run.

Turnbull had more luck two races later when driving Smooth Baht to victory in the Ultra Air Pace for her father Steve, with the gelding putting in a great run to clock a personal best mile rate of 1:50.9.

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