A son of Shinko King, C'est La Guerre was trained in Wanganui by part-owner Kevin Myers, who deserves plenty of the credit for the horse's Derby triumph.
As the horse passed the finish line in the Derby, the astute trainer was vindicated as commentator George Simon labelled him a "deadset genius".
In his next start at Awapuni he was blocked 250m from home when making what looked like potentially a winning late run, and suffered the same fate in the Group 2 Great Northern Guineas on Boxing Day when finishing 2.9 lengths behind Prince Kaapstad (who two months later was runner-up to C'est La Guerre in the Derby).
His win in the $20,000 Wairoa Cup was disturbingly narrow for a Derby contender, but in hindsight the horse was probably well short of the peak he eventually reached on 1 March.
C'est La Guerre's first run since the Derby was in another unusual race, finishing second over 1400m in an $11,000 open handicap at another country track in Blenheim.