Terror to Love has claimed a third consecutive New Zealand Trotting Cup at Addington and driver Ricky May won the race for a record seventh time.
The horse stormed back from 15 lengths off the lead after breaking at the start of the 3200-metre harness race in Christchurch on Tuesday evening.
May now surpasses Cecil Devine as the most successful New Zealand Trotting Cup driver.
More than 20,000 people turned out at the raceway for one of the city's biggest days of its Cup and Show week. Organisers said at least 23,000 tickets were sold.
The first race of the day was run just before midday and the New Zealand Trotting Cup was held at 5.15pm.
A temporary alcohol ban is in place in the area around the raceway in a bid to curb the drunken behaviour of previous years.
The owner of the Addington Coffee Co-op on Lincoln Road, Age Palmer, said people can get quite rowdy on the streets and he was glad that drinking would be kept to bars.
The ban applies to public spaces bounded by Blenheim, Lincoln and Wrights roads, Moorhouse Avenue and Matipo Street from 9am to 10pm on Tuesday.