On the back of a career-best 30 winners last season, leading trainer Troy Kilgower kicked off his title defence with a double at the second picnic meeting of 2026/27, at Alexandra on Cox Plate day.
The in-form Kilgower nabbed a winner at Moe last Sunday week prior to saddling odds-on favourites Stella Cantante and Epicus for dominant wins at Alex.
Stella Cantante followed up her stable debut at Yea a week prior, a one-length second to Eight Under, with an easy 2½-length win. The Star Witness mare had won a maiden for original trainer Nick Harnett at Pakenham in June 2025 but 16 subsequent starts yielded only four minor placings before she joined Kilgower late last month.
Stella Cantante was one of five winning favourites at Alexandra, but the good thing of the day looked to be the final winner, Epicus, who’d opened his picnic season with a gallant second behind Diamanda in the Corinthian at Cranboune.
Epicus joined Kilgower in the second half of last season and quickly made an impact with wins over 1200 metres at Healesville in March and at Balnarring in April, then an excellent third in the Victorian Picnic Grand Final at Pakenham on May 1, stretching out to 1600 metres.
Epicus dropped back to 1300 metres at Alexandra, where he defeated past Picnic Horse of the Year Annoy’en One and prolific picnic performer Lika Mosh.
Ben Moffat was aboard both Kilgower’s winners and shared riding honours on the day with seven-time premiership winner Shaun Cooper, who got his season off and running with a double.
Cooper had missed out at Yea after winning the Corinthian on Diamanda, but was back in winning form at Alex when he partnered the Brooke Verwey-Mitchell-trained Maristela to an overdue maiden win. 
The Ocean Park mare has proved an iron horse since joining Verwey-Mitchell at the start of last season. Maristela resumed in October 2025 and started 17 times to season’s end, racking up a frustrating seven seconds.
She was runner-up again at Yea before breaking through on the back-up with a comfortable win as an odds-on favourite.
Cooper then won on Duel Missile, who has hit the ground running this season, backing up from his Yea maiden win over the aforementioned Maristela.
Duel Missile is a lightly raced five-year-old who has now won two from four for Tyson Barton and looks likely to win more races on the picnic circuit. 
Elsewhere on the Alexandra program Glenn Xiberras kept up the good start to his career as a race rider by winning the opener on Zephartie for David Dean. The Artie Schiller mare, beaten four lengths in a Kilmore maiden 11 days earlier, looked well placed in a picnic maiden and was sent out the $2 favourite.
Peter Foster’s tough campaigner Understated ($10) caused the day’s only upset, winning for the 10th time in his 61-start career. Dani Walker was aboard.
Understated, an 11-year-old son of Danesis, won three times last season over a wide distance range. He scored over 1100 metres at Mansfield on Melbourne Cup day, won the Merton Cup over 1900 metres then outstayed his rivals over 2308 metres at Woolamai.