The black bitch was one of the four heat winners on Saturday. 

She took out the third with a front-running performance.

It was the diminutive two-year old’s first run in Tamworth but Northfield was confident.

“I knew she’d go well,” Northfield said.

“She won a heat of the Armidale Cup and got beaten by a head in the final.

“It was a little bit worrying when they were coming down the straight. I thought they might get her.”

But she managed to hold off Sheba’s Image (John Lawson) for a three-quarters of a length win.

It was a welcome return to form after being unplaced her last two starts.

“She’s been a bit flat her last few runs,” Northfield said.

He said coming back to the grass helped.

“We race on loam at Lismore, Casino and Grafton,” he said.

“She’s only a 23kg bitch. Hitting the sand is a lot harder work.

“It’s like running on the beach.”

He doesn’t mind her chances in the final.

“She’s a reasonably good beginner,” he said.

“This is about her distance, especially on the grass.”

Northfield will also have a starter in the John Jordan Memorial Final (402m) after On Interest took out the second heat.

He was delighted to get a qualifier, having had a long association with Jordan before he passed away.

Porky Teller’s run was similar to Krista Bella in the previous heat, with the white and fawn bitch leading from start to finish.

“I thought they’d be too close and run her down but she was too far in front,” trainer Ben Spence said.

She was his only Cup hope and he was delighted with her run.

“That’s her first 500m in three months,” he said.

And  her first run in a month.

She’s had some injury issues and Spence is just easing her back into it.

“She was in the Cup last year,” he said. “Hopefully we have better luck this year.”