Pride Of Jenni secured her place in the Queensland winter carnival with a commanding return to form at Caulfield, bouncing back from her Australian Cup disappointment with victory in the $175,000 Listed Anniversary Vase (1600m).

After a flat performance in the Group 1 Australian Cup on March 29, the Ciaron Maher-trained mare produced a display more in line with her prior Group 2 Peter Young Stakes (1800m) success, reaffirming her credentials.

“It’s just a relief, really,” jockey Craig Newitt said after guiding her to victory.

“We know how good she is on her day, obviously the Australian Cup deflated all of us, so it was just nice to see her show she was back to where we thought she had to be and to get a result is a good one.”

Carrying 61kg, Pride Of Jenni jumped cleanly and was never headed, setting a genuine pace and holding off all challengers. Regal Zeus loomed briefly at the 400m but faded, leaving backmarkers Scheelite ($5) and Pounding ($5) to fill the placings behind the $2.70 favourite.

She stopped the clock at 1:35.62 on a Good 3 track, setting a new class record and narrowly missing the long-standing course benchmark.

“The speed I was going at the 1000-metre mark I reckon was the speed I was going on the winning post,” Newitt said.

“I never quickened any more but I never weakened. She just kept on going and her stamina really kicked in.”

Now firmly on track for the $1 million Group 1 Doomben Cup (2000m) on May 24, Pride Of Jenni has firmed into $4 second favourite behind Buckaroo.

Her victory capped a winning treble for Maher on the day, with earlier wins coming courtesy of Kaleo and the emerging Kalkallo.