After working to the early lead, Franco Tristan held on to narrowly beat local stars Scooterwillrev and Ryley Major in the $75,000 feature.

"Standing starts can be a bit unpredictable but when you've got a horse with good manners it doesn't have to be the best horse in the race," Lang said.

"I'm not sure my horse was the best horse but his manners were exemplary in his heat and again tonight and that makes a lot of difference."

Lang said that it also helped that Franco Tristan got a relatively easy time in front.

"At this level, you don't get a cheap run very often so I was very grateful for it," he said.

Lang prepares Franco Tristan for his parents who he described as "tough owners to deal with" and he wasn't sure of future plans.

"He's earned a break so we might leave him in the Apple Isle where you've got a bit of green grass - it's very dry back home," the trainer said.

Lang, who has won well over 5000 races, has driven four previous Easter Cup winners - Franco Tiger (1991), local horse Northern Brewer (1998), Here Comes David (2001) and Jonells Son (2002).

Runner-up Scooterwillrev showed his usual toughness after racing in the death while third placegetter Ryley Major looked very unlucky after being held up.

The modern-day Easter Plate doesn't bear much resemblance to the time-honoured race that once carried that name but nevertheless it was won by a good horse.

The Gavin Lang-trained and driven Castle Retreat went around as a red-hot favourite but had to pull out all stops to beat Laredo Torpedo by a half head.

Given that the four-year-old was a C5 horse racing out of his class against C6 to C10 rivals, Lang was more than satisfied with his effort.

"It's only his 13th start so he's relatively inexperienced and there were some well-performed horses in the race - it was no easy task," Lang said.

Lang bought Castle Retreat as a yearling.

"I never expected him to blossom like he did but he's grown into a nice horse," the trainer said.

"We've had to take our time with him but it's paying rewards now."

The original Easter Plate was first run in 1922 and for more than 80 years was traditionally a two-mile standing-start race on Easter Monday.

It was the second leg of a lucrative Easter feature double.

Trainer Rohan Hillier started the night in good form with a quinella in the C0/C1 Pace.

Former Kiwi three-year-old Awayandrideyourself ($1.75 to $1.40) worked to the lead at the 1600m and went on to easily account for stablemate Sheza Bettormak ($2.20 to $3.40).

Driver Conor Crook said the winner scored with something in reserve.