An after-thought was handsomely rewarded at Trentham on Saturday.

Trainer Rachael Frost hadn’t originally intended to run Redefine in The Hanley Formula Autumn Sprint Championship Final (1200m) and a late change of mind saw the Captain Rio gelding take his chance grab the thick end of the $50,000 stake.

“I didn’t think he would get in as he hadn’t run in any of the qualifying races, but the nominations looked average so I put him in,” Frost said.

The well-travelled Redefine has now won three in a row, as he did last winter, after successes at Blenheim and Riccarton during a recent southern sojourn.

The gelding was ridden at Trentham by Madan Singh and they set the terms in front and the horse stuck to his task grimly under pressure to prevail in a close finish.

Frost is now unsure what the immediate future holds for Redefine.

“If he ran badly today he’d have gone out,” she said. “In the central districts there aren’t any Rating 85 races for him, I could see if there’s an open race somewhere.”

Perfect Harmonee raced outside the leader and he fought valiantly in the straight, only to come up short by a nose at the post.

Third placegetter Dougie ran up expectations in his first appearance since winning over 2200m at Ellerslie on Boxing Day. Trainer Peter Lock said the four-year-old had worked particularly well during the week.

The well-fancied Manhattan Street ran fourth after having his chance and Casaquinman battled in the ground and was next home.

He had won his previous two starts on better ground and will now be spelled, according to trainer Shane Brown.

Video replay: Redefine winning The Hanley Formula Autumn Sprint Championship Final (1200m)