Now a six-year-old, Old Mate Ned, who is trained at Kyneton by Mick Sell, has had just five race starts, the first of which was only two months ago.

On Monday at Hanging Rock, the patience of connections was rewarded when the son of Irish sire Bushranger and French Lodger (the daughter of Melbourne Cup winner Jeune) scored his maiden victory over 1600m.

His first win was a long time in the making, according to stable spokesperson Mel Sell.

"Jodi and Brendan bought him as a late three-year-old, before that we had him for nothing just sitting in our paddock," she said.

"We had no one, who owned him, and they were looking for another horse, so they decided to take him on.

"He went shin sore four times and every time we got him back up and ready to go he would get sore again.

"Even this time in, we got him to the trials and were ready to run him, but he jarred up quite badly.

"We decided to back off him and just swam him for a couple weeks and off he went again."

Sell said expectations first up when the gelding finally made his debut at Kyneton last November were low, as they were at his next start at Bendigo later in the month.

"They were really just about educating him and teaching him how to go among other horses," she said.

After a five-week freshen up, Old Mate Ned returned to racing at Geelong on January 2, finishing 10th in a field of 14 over 1425m.

A second at his next run at Benalla on January 12 convinced the stable the gelding was capable of a breakthrough at Hanging Rock.

"Going to Benalla we thought he was almost ready, but was probably just a run short, so we had this race as our target," he said.

"Because the owners are locals and because we knew the 1600m would suit him down to an absolute tee, we thought if he could be positive he would be damn hard to run down.

"He was really impressive and he's a very progressive horse. Even though he is six, you have to think of him as a progressive three-year-old type as he has been such a slow developer."

A selfless decision by the Sell stable's apprentice Jessie Philpot meant Chelsea MacFarlane took the winning ride on Old Mate Ned.

"The horse is Jessie's baby, she rides him every day, but she made the big call to step down," Sell said.

"She rode him in his first start and wanted to stay on him, but felt he needed a senior rider on him as he was hanging in quite a bit.

"She made the call for the benefit of the horse and the owners, so we put Chelsea on him, who happens to be Jessie's best mate.

"Jess was convinced he was going to win today (Monday) and told us she was glad it was Chelsea on him as she would be filthy if it was anyone else."

Sell said the stable would look around at suitable options for Old Mate Ned's next start, with his breeding suggesting he would get out over much further ground.

Meanwhile, Bendigo trainer Josh Julius narrowly missed a victory in the day's feature event, the $25,000 Hanging Rock Cup, with Rhythmic Queen finishing in second place, 1.5 lengths behind the winner Extreme Torque.

Fellow Bendigo trainer Jarrod Robinson also notched a second in the 1600m benchmark 58 handicap with Jeune Astre.

The six-year-old mare was chasing a second win in four starts following her success at Kerang on Boxing Day.

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