Every once in a while, a star appears on the horizon, the so-called once-in-a-generation Beautide-type performer.

The dual Inter-Dominion and Miracle Mile winner amassed in excess of $2.1 million throughout his career before finally succumbing to injury after winning forty-nine of his eighty-one starts.

Beautide’s dam Gorse Bush has been a wonderful producer for the Rattray family, a six-time winner of the Tasmanian Broodmare Of The Year title and the 2015 Australian Broodmare of the Year.

As we know racing, sport and life in general can be a ‘game of inches’.

The now-highly-decorated matron came into the world in the middle of a thick gorse bush on the Rattray family property, thanks to the adventures of her dam Barrington Lass, and had to be rescued by Denise.

Denise was not to know just how much that search and rescue effort was going repay the family.

As we farewelled star pacer Beautide into retirement in early May, many feared the golden period for Tasmania on the national harness scene had come to an end.

Little did we know another youngster roaming the paddocks of the Rattray property with Gorse Bush bloodlines was about to burst into the limelight.

Ignatius, a Roll With Jo–Ashkilini bay gelding had just made an impressive debut in Hobart, recording a smart mile rate of 1:59.3 to defeat Ideal Bliss and Feelin Dusty.

The form out of the race has proven to be a tremendous guide to the two-year-old season with the Paul Hill pair clinching the feature double on Friday night in Hobart.

Ideal Bliss, driven by Rohan Hillier, captured the $40,000 Evicus Final while Feelin Dusty made the Dandy Patch Final a one-act affair, scoring by 10 metres for Hall-Of-Fame-reinsman Ricky Duggan.

As Beautide had done seven years earlier, Ignatius went on to win the $20,000 Sweepstakes Final before the Rattray brains trust decided on a tilt at the New South Wales Breeders Challenge at Menangle Park.

Ignatius was beaten into third place at his mainland debut, but two weeks later bounced back to win a heat of the Challenge before lining up in Sunday’s $125,000 final.

James Rattray handled Ignatius to perfection in the Gr1 feature, and had four metres to spare on the best two-year-olds in the land when the judge called a halt to proceedings, in the process becoming Australia’s fastest two-year-old, recording 1.51.3 seconds for the 1609-metre journey.

Ignatius is a Latin name meaning the fiery one, and one thing is for sure he has ignited the interest of harness followers not only in Tasmania but around the nation.