Harjeet zoomed to the lead at the 500m after racing in the death but Illegal Immigrant joined him quickly in the straight and looked set for a comfortable win.

However Harjeet, the $1.25 favourite, fought back strongly to go down by the narrowest of margins.

The Troy Hillier-trained and driven Illegal Immigant produced a similar boilover when he beat Ryley Major in a heat of the Easter Cup in April.

He was spelled after finishing fifth in the final and hadn't raced again since.

Illegal Immigrant has now won 12 races in Tasmania after four victories in New Zealand.

Smart four-year-old Similan Beach produced a career-best run to win the Jillian Robins Stakes in a last-to-first performance.

The Marc Butler-trained gelding was still at the rear of the field at the 400m and driver Ricky Duggan had no option but to go very wide on the home turn.

At that stage, the bird looked to have flown as front-runner Karpenkova Leis was still going strongly.

But Similan Beach stormed down the outside of the track to not only grab the leader but draw 2m clear on the line.

The mile-rate for the 1680m was 1:57.7 and the leaders ran the last 800m in 58.6 so, given the extra ground he covered, Similan Beach's closing sectionals must have been exceptional.

Similan Beach has now won nine of his 20 starts for owners Jamie Cockshutt and Barry Cooper.

Despite his good form, bookmakers were inclined to risk the gelding from his wide second-row draw over the short trip and he touched $3.20 with tab.com.au before closing at $2.90.

Punters expected a Victorian visitor to win the Cliff Robins Memorial 2YO but many picked the wrong one.

The John Nicholson-trained Micton Mouse, driven by former Tasmanian Jack Laugher, led all the way to beat odds-on favourite Beat City trained by Kate Hargreaves.

However the winner was also well-backed, firming from $3.60 to $2.30.