Makusha delivers for Bendigo trainer Rod Symons at Echuca after a pair of near misses

The son of Magnus had been slowly but surely edging his way to his win this preparation, backing up a narrow third at Bendigo with an even closer second at the same track in the lead-up to Thursday.

Nicely ridden by Jake Noonan, Makusha came from well back in the field at the 400m to swamp his rivals and finish full of running for a convincing victory.

Given the strong manner in which he finished off the race, Symons can envisage a trip beyond 1600m for the gelding, hence his interest in Kyneton Cup day.

"The mile is where he is best at, but there has been some talk of jumping up to maybe an 1850m at Kyneton on Kyneton Cup day," he said.

"One of the owners is down there and that's a local for him, so we might get there yet.

"He did win well today, so we might have a crack at something with no weight on his back."

Makusha boosted his record to two wins and four placings from 12 starts for $84,900 in earnings.

His second win came nearly 12 months to the day after his first over 1500m at Bendigo last October.

He was unlucky not to have added his second win at his previous start, when he raced outside the leader at Bendigo and hit the front at the 250m before being collared late.

"He's been wanting a mile and he ran over a mile last start, but things didn't work out as we thought. He generally gets back and settles and gets cover and comes home. But he was close last time anyway," Symons said.

"But everything worked out well today with cover.

"Jake rode him at his second start and I thought I'd put him back on and he got the chance today to do better with his record.

"He's only got the two wins, but hopefully he can get a few more."

Noonan, who rode Makusha into second place in his second start at Swan Hill in September last year, was glad to renew his association with Symons and the gelding.

"Rod wanted someone who knew the horse. He (Makusha) makes it fairly straightforward, but he's got a few quirks," he said.

"Having someone onboard that's ridden the horse is a massive advantage. It paid dividends.

"Horses like him can win or lose their race pre-race, but he was just able to contain himself really well in the yard and go to the gates in a nice manner.

"For a horse getting out to a mile and needing an aerobic capacity, you need to make sure they are in the right frame of mind and he did that today.

"From that point on it was pretty painless. He put himself in a good spot. (With) the lack of tempo, he just got his head up at one stage, but then the tempo went back on.

"It was about being patient, but at the same time trying to build his revs.

"He did hit a flat spot, but like he does in all his starts, he picks himself up and finds the line."

Symons will have one runner at Saturday's Beach Party race meeting at Bendigo, where his three-year-old filly Zente Dancer will be attempting to break her maiden at start number four.

The daughter of Zacinto and Menaka has improved with each of her runs and was an eye-catching third in her last start at Bendigo earlier this month.

She will be ridden by Fred Kersley.

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