The Ken and Bev Kelso and Mark Donoghue-trained Princess Kereru will have one final assignment to cap off what has been an outstanding season for the five-year-old sprinter.

The daughter of Pins surpassed all expectations of her connections this season, winning the Gr.3 Waikato Stud Plate (1200m) and finishing runner-up in the Listed Lightning Stakes (1200m) and Gr.1 Railway (1200m).

She will attempt to close out the season in style at Hastings next Saturday when she lines-up in the Listed NZB Finance Sprint (1200m).

“Princess Kereru will run in that Listed race and then spell and come back and hopefully be competitive in the major sprints again,” Ken Kelso said.

“With set-weights and penalties I think she comes back into the Railway with only about 54kg on her back, so we will set her for some of those races again. It will be a similar program to what she did this year.

“It has been a fantastic season. She’s a Group One placegetter and Group three winner at Ellerslie, she’s really stepped up to the mark.

“We knew she had ability, but she has really surprised us and I am really delighted for the owners.

“She is now quite a valuable mare with her black-type results and we look forward to having a crack at those bigger sprints again next year.”