After a tardy start from box 1, Stop Line did what he so often does - charged through on the rail and put a quality field to the sword.

He scored by 4-3/4 lengths from kennel-mate Leica Prayer, giving Westbury trainer Jillian Stamford the quinella, with Sacred Shadow 2-1/2 lengths away third.

The time for the 452m of 25.28 seconds was only marginally outside Stop Line's personal best and exceptional given the windy conditions.

Stamford, whose husband Richard won the Devonport Cup with Jim Bowie in 1994 and Shantung Tiger in 1997, said Stop Line deserved to win a big race.

"He has been knocking on the door for a while," she said.

"He was a bit unlucky in the Hobart Thousand last year - he didn't draw too well and didn't start well and that was the end of that.

"Devonport suits him best - he's won 20 of his 29 starts on the track - and although he didn't get the best of starts today he was on the rail so that was it.

"But I really didn't expect him to go that fast the way the conditions are."

Stamford said she "never imagined" she would train the quinella.

"I knew Leica Prayer would go alright and I wasn't too fussed as to who won, but Stop Line deserved a big race," she said.

Stop Line will now be given an easy time heading towards the heats of the Hobart Thousand.

"It depends on the box draw how well he'll go in that," Stamford said.

Stop Line is raced by the trainer's son Rodney Stamford in partnership with Mangalore trainer Debbie Cannan.

Rougeau is free to take his place in Friday's $30,000 Golden Mile at Spreyton while racing officials sort out the affairs of his West Australian owner Paul Whyte.

Whyte, a senior government bureaucrat, has had his assets frozen amid allegations that he and an associate defrauded the state of millions of dollars using a fake invoicing scheme.

According to WA Police, the former assistant director general of the Department of Communities systematically stole up to $25 million over eight years.

It's been established that Whyte has links to more than 100 racehorses based in WA, NSW, Victoria, Tasmania and New Zealand.

They include Rougeau and stablemate Lesnar trained by Glenn Stevenson at Wesley Vale.

At this stage, all the horses are allowed to continue racing but Whyte's share of any prizemoney they earn will be withheld till further notice.

Tasmania's chief steward Scott Quill said there had been no new developments in the case from the Tasmanian perspective.

"WA will advise us if there is any change but at this stage we have no issues with the horses racing, it's just that the prizemoney will be frozen," he said.

WA officials are developing a welfare policy to ensure Whyte's horses, which include stallions, broodmares and foals, are cared for in the long term. They could be sent to a new $1.6 million property bought by Racing WA specifically for retired racehorses.

The Golden Mile meeting will revert to a proper twilight fixture this year, with the first race at 3.49pm and the last at 7.25pm.

It proved highly popular in that timeslot for several years until Sky Channel started programming earlier finishes due to its tight Friday night schedule.

The result was that the club lost those patrons that could only go the track after they finished work or wanted an evening meal.

There was no point them attending last year as the meeting was all over at 6.07pm.

The Golden Mile has attracted eight runners including Willby Rules who won the race last year beating Eastender.

There has been a reduction in prizemoney this year as the club wanted to put greater emphasis on the Sheffield Cup as the main Devonport Cup lead-up.

The Golden Mile has been cut from $50,000 to $30,000 but the Sheffield Cup on December 22 has gone from $20,000 to $50,000.

There is another thoroughbred meeting at Mowbray on Saturday night.