Tuvalu, ridden by Jarrod Fry beat Zoltan by more than three lengths in the 1400-metre race to give Smith his third consecutive Port Fairy Cup victory.

The lightly raced four-year-old has won four of his six starts and the multiple group one-winning trainer said Tuvalu would have his next start in Melbourne.

"We'll head to Melbourne with him next time," Smith told The Standard.

"We've always had a high opinion of him.

"He was short-priced favourite and he won like a good thing which he was entitled to going out at those sort of odds.

"I'm confident he'll get out to 1800 metres with a bit of time and may get a bit of black type on his resume during his career.

"It was a good ride by Jarrod. He's a good strong front-riding rider who never seems to panic."

Smith's other winners in the Port Fairy Cup are Salon du Cheval and Mr Money Bags.

Four-year-old Warrnambool-trained mare Francine notched up her third victory taking out a restricted race over 1100 metres.

Trainer Aaron Purcell said the win by Francine, who was ridden by apprentice jockey Sheridan Clarke, over hot favourite Sweet Mary was a pleasant surprise.

"Francine is a home bred," Purcell said. "I thought she may struggle running out a strong 1100 metres but I got that wrong.

"She's usually best around the 1000 metres. Her previous two wins were in races over 1000 metres.

"It was a good win considering she was running into a head wind."

Francine took her stake earnings to more then $50,000 with the victory.

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