Like his stablemate Contentment an hour earlier, three-year-old Country Melody showed all the benefits of having had a race experience and was open to more positive tactics when he kept his unbeaten tag after the Jockey Club Road Handicap (1,000m) on Saturday.

Sent out at 45-1 on debut, Country Melody (Karis Teetan) had defied the odds to win comfortably in Class Four down the straight course despite looking quite raw and green.

Hoisted to Class Three with a 12-point rating hike yesterday, Country Melody needed to make some progress to keep up with the handicapper and justify a far shorter price on the betting board but Teetan said he was pleasantly surprised at how much the John Size-trained youngster had come on for one race.

"He was much more professional today," he said. "Before the first run, John had said to me he wanted me to follow on Country Melody to get him to relax but today he asked me not to sit behind but to jump the horse out and be more positive.

"If I was following something, then that was OK, but he wasn't worried if I wasn't. The main thing was to get him to relax whether he was covered up or not and John said he was sure the horse would quicken if he relaxed."

So Teetan had no qualms about following the leaders Dane Patrol and Smart Declaration over to the outside rail section and leaving Country Melody exposed.

"I really like how he switched off this time without cover," Teetan said. "When I pressed him, he gave a nice kick and I was always confident in the run. He's only a young horse both in age and experience and he is still learning what it's all about. But there's no doubt he improved a fair bit from last time to this time and there should be more improvement ahead of him as well."

The winning pair for Size saw him move to 15 wins for the season and he continues to chip away at the leaders in the championship race, moving into fifth on the ladder.