The four-year-old mare’s runaway 23-metre win over Jane Grant and Pharoahs Wrath was the biggest success for Rattray and  partner Melissa Maine since they branched out on their own.

‘‘It’s been a long 12 months – for Melissa and I to do this by ourselves makes it very special,’’ Rattray said.

‘‘This is probably the best horse we’ve trained, and we’ll now give her a break before taking her interstate.

‘‘We’re looking at either the Breeders Crown in Victoria or some mares’ races at Menangle.’’

Rattray, 29, established himself as one of Tasmania’s best-ever reinsman while driving for his father, Barrie, and his dominance hasn’t waned since he decided to go it alone.

He and Maine have worked hard to establish a training facility near Latrobe.

Rattray said that Faithful Gabby’s win was ‘‘redemption’’ for her second in the equivalent race for three-year-old fillies last season.

‘‘She probably should have won but was beaten by a better horse (Miley Rose) on the night,’’ he said.

‘‘It’s great that we’ve been able to make amends.

‘‘She’s a really good horse and to do what she did tonight was a great effort.

‘‘I’m actually a bit surprised by the margin.’’

Rattray said that he had given the race a lot of thought in the lead-up – playing it over a few times in his head – and, despite Faithful Gabby’s short odds, didn’t let himself become overconfident.

‘‘But once she rolled to the front, then I thought it was game over,’’ he said.

A resurgence

FORMER star juvenile Resurgent Spirit showed that he was back to his best with a track record win in the $30,000 Raider Stakes.

Driven by James Austin, the Roger Whitmore-trained four-year-old led all the way to beat Chirac and Le Wi Bulent, rating 2:00.9 for the 2665m.

The previous record of 2:01.1 was set by Devendra in the same race last year.

Resurgent Spirit won the two-year-old equivalent of the Raider Stakes, the Dandy Patch, but missed out as a three-year-old in the Globe Derby.

‘‘His preparation was interrupted by a knee injury last season and he wasn’t right,’’ Whitmore said.

‘‘Then he went to Melbourne and got a virus.

‘‘He won a few races but his whole three-year-old season was virtually a write-off.’’

Whitmore said that he knew he had Resurgent Spirit on song for last night’s race after working him at New Norfolk last week.

‘‘I took his heart rate after he came off the track and it was only 66 and, by the time I’d washed him, it was down to 45,’’ the trainer said.

‘‘I knew then that I couldn’t have him any better.

‘‘But I still thought that we probably had to draw well to win his race – the draw is everything on this track.’’

Whitemore said that he hadn’t considered immediate plans for Resurgent Spirit.

‘‘This was his mission – I haven’t looked any further,’’ he said.

Last night’s other feature races saw first-starter Major Jamane, trained and driven by Lindsay Tatnell, score an upset win in the $10,000 Max McCormack, while the $10,000 Ulverstone Cup went to another outsider, Black Centurian, trained by Steve Davis and driven by Gareth Rattray.