Laing spent Friday night in hospital after an accident, but was no doubt watching on as the four-year-old gelding, ridden by Patrick Moloney, claimed his biggest victory to date in 17 starts.

A stirring feature race win on Bendigo's biggest day of racing continued an amazing run of form for the son of Toronado and Sunnyvale, who has won four of 10 starts this preparation.

El Soleado, a 15-1 chance, showed he would be a strong contender on Saturday following a luckless third at his last start at Flemington over the 1600m.

Stable representative Damian Williams said the win would be an undoubted boost for Cranbourne trainer Laing, who he revealed had been released from hospital on Saturday.

"I'm not sure he knows where he is at the minute. He's on plenty of painkillers," Williams said post-race.

"He got injured last night but he's out today (Saturday).

"It all worked out good. We wanted him (El Soleado) to have cover and sit midfield, or a little bit forward of that.

"Maybe he was a little bit slow out, but it just put him in the right spot and the horse did the rest.

"He's a very honest horse and he's not that hard to ride. As you can see, he has a great strike rate."

Moloney, who spent months out of the saddle following a severe hand injury late last year, was the fourth jockey to win on El Soleado in his 17 start career.

A revolving cast has included Blake Shinn, Mark Zahra and Jamie Kah.

The Group 1-winner hoped the win would be the catalyst for greater opportunities in the aftermath of his setback.

"It's tough in the jockeys' room," Moloney said.

"You throw a bag of colours into the jockey room and you'd be happy for anyone to put them on, especially coming back from a setback and I've had five months off.

"I've been working my arse off for small opportunities but hopefully this win can get the ball rolling."

No doubt carrying plenty of sentimental support, former Bendigo-trained galloper Just Folk finished third, beaten by less than a length after leading the field into the straight and giving his rivals plenty to run down.

Prepared now by Gavin Bedggood, the former Josh Julius-trained galloper went one better than his fourth placing behind Here To Shock in last year's Golden Mile.

While ultimate success evaded Bendigo's trainers, there were some notable results.

Aiming for a second Golden Mile day win following success in 2022, the Arthur Pace-trained Colsridge finished a close second in the 1100m benchmark 84 handicap.

The Brent Stanley-trained Celui was third in a high-calibre three-year-old handicap (1100m), while the Toby Lake-trained first starter Linkvue chased home the smart Bold Bastille for second in the $250,000 VOBIS Gold Rush.

The shortest-priced favourite on the card, Bold Bastille ($1.10) made it three straight wins and four from five starts, boosting her prize money earnings to $699,550.

Luke Currie, who rode the filly for the first time in the absence of Mark Zahra in Sydney, said he was 'mightily impressed' with the win.

"That was a gift from the Hayes boys and the owners and Mark Zahra as well," he said.

"She's got a fairly high cruising speed and she always gives you the feel she is going to quicken off that, which is what she did and she did it on her own.

"There is not a lot of her, but she's obviously got a big motor. She'll win better races still."

Bold Bastille will be set for a tilt at the $1m The Showdown at Caulfield later this month.

Attracting more than 3500 people and arguably the best fields ever seen at Bendigo, BJC chairman Jack Lyons hailed the day as a huge success.

"We are proud to host this race day, and this success was showcased to the broader racing community through Australia, that Apiam Bendigo has some of the highest quality facilities," he said.

"Trainers and participants commented on the day that Apiam Bendigo should have more Saturday feature race day opportunities.

"This is in consideration to how good the track is, providing an even opportunity to all horses, with no bias".

"We look forward to building on the success of this day for many years to come, and hopefully get the opportunity to expand on these feature race day opportunities."