After winning at Parkes last start, jockey Greg Ryan led Crockett’s mare to win number four from 10 career starts.

Jar Of Hearts ($2 favourite) got home two-and-three-quarter lengths ahead of Turf Tapper ($3.60) while Bathurst trainer Peter Stanley and his chance Dungannon ($15) were third.

Post-race, Crockett admitted he continues to be impressed by the four-year-old Ad Valorem mare and stated the $150,000 Qualifer at Wellington on March 11 is his next target.

“She’s just come back really, really good after a spell. She strengthened up quite a bit and she’s run quite well there,” he said.

“I was quite happy with the way she was ridden. She’s normally a little bit closer but I was happy for her to be where she was stepping up to the 1300m. We’re going to go up to 1400m next for The Championships. I’m really happy.

“We’ve got two wins on the board [this preparation] and we’ve got a lot of confidence with the horse. We’ll keep her one piece for the next four weeks and away we go.”

Jar Of Hearts took the lead away from Special Silk with 200m to go in Monday’s race.

Turf Tapper looked set to offer a challenge to Jar Of Hearts in the closing stages but the three-year-old, trained by former Bathurst resident Bjorn Baker, raced erratically down the outside of the track. 

Jockey Charles Bishop opted to pull the gelding up inside the final 50m but was still able to run second.

Jar Of Hearts had hit the line well by the stage and Crockett will hope she can prove as successful as another from his stable, Iron Blue, who ran second in last year’s Central Districts Qualifier at Wellington and advanced to the Country Championships Final. 

Elsewhere at Bathurst on Monday, jockey Mitchell Bell scored an early double.

After guiding Betterthanyouthink to victory early on, the hoop helped Hirokin power down the straight and win in the Brian Burke Printing Wellington Cup Prelude (1800 metres).

Hirokin ($2.60 favourite) was the best in the five-horse field for Warwick Farm trainer Jarrod Austin, beating home three home-trained contenders to the top prize.

“The plan was to see how the race panned out. I would have been happy to go forward and lead but the speed was there so I was happy to sit off it. It worked out well for us,” Bell said.

“I waited until the death. Coming into the home corner he felt really good, and I thought ‘I don’t have to get going yet, I can wait until I straighten to make my move’ and it panned out well.”