The four-year-old gelding has never once disappointed Fliedner with his effort and has provided the trainer and the horse's large ownership group with plenty of value for money, topping the $363,450 prize money mark.

That was again the case on Sunday when the ever-consistent son of Zoffany and Luxury Suite charged to victory in the $100,000 Echuca Cup (1400m).

Exceptionally ridden by William Pike, Hi Stranger ($2.20 favourite) blitzed his rivals to win by 3.8-lengths, notching up career win number five at his 23rd start.

Fliedner, who capped a successful week with a winning double at Echuca, said he had headed north reasonably confident of cup success.

"Reasonably .... but you are always wary of other horses with good form, so you hope you have the luck and they don't," he said.

"It was a great ride. He (Pike) has had a few rides on the horse and he knows him pretty well.

"He only rode him in a short race last time, but I think he was probably reasonably surprised that he finished it off as good as he did."

A dual-city winner, Fliedner said Hi Stranger, who finished a close-up fifth in his previous start at Flemington, would likely target the $150,000 Listed Golden Mile at Bendigo on Saturday, March 27.

"That's a much stronger race of course, but I think he's done enough to earn a crack at it," he said.

"He's raced in good strong company the whole time, so that would be a natural stepping stone.

"He's been a very consistent horse, if he's been a little bit off the placegetters in his races there's been excuses for him.

"He hasn't put a bad run in ever that I couldn't give an excuse for him.

"He's not a superstar, but he's not far away. If I had a few more of him I'd be going well. But I'm happy with what I've got."

Fliedner picked up the first leg of a double earlier in the day courtesy of the four-year-old mare Zoujea.

It was his first win in five starts with the former Danny O'Brien-trained galloper, who had been knocking on the door following a pair of placings this preparation at Caulfield and Flemington.

"She was getting back in her races and didn't look like she was trying very hard, so I adopted a different way of training and riding her and it's seemed to work," h said.

"I don't think I've improved the horse, but I've given her another outlook.

"It's good to be able to do as good, if not a little better than some of the bigger trainers.

"She won a benchmark 70 early in her career and looked like being a good horse. She was racing against the horse I had St Edward's Crown and there wasn't a lot between them; mine might have been a bit better at that stage.

"I think she hurt herself and lost her confidence, but hopefully she's getting back to her best.

"I want to try her out over a bit more ground.

"For her to go on with it she probably needs to get over a bit further, where she 's happy to be in the first two in a race. If she gets back behind she tends to say I've had a bad quarter of footy, I'm not coming out for the next three quarters.

"A good attribute this time was that she toughed it out."

Zoujea improved her record to three wins and three placings from 12 starts and was ridden by Fliedner's nephew Harry Coffey, who finished cup day with a treble, after scoring wins for Echuca trainer Gwenda Johnstone with Pravro and Swan Hill trainer Heath Chalmers on Mount Mitty.

It capped a big week for Fliedner and Coffey, who combined earlier in the week to score a city win with Queen Guinevere at Sandown.

Fliedner, who has downsized his team over the past 18 months to about 10 horses, is on the lookout for some owners for a few recent yearling purchases.

"They're well-bred and they are related to winners, so you can't do any more than that," h e said.

For details visit the Fliedner's Racing website.

READ MORE:

Fliedner tastes city success with Queen Guinevere

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