A short-priced favourite from the start at Racing Orange’s Tradies Day TAB meeting, Curtain Calls ($2) snatched the lead from Bathurstian ($5) inside the final 100 metres to claim the win by a nose, with the Garry Lunn-trained Basic Model ($5) a further three lengths back in third on a good three rated Towac Park.

In charge of the bay mare for her last three starts - impressively netting a second and now two victories - Mudgee’s Cameron Crockett believes he has a five-year-old with plenty of ability.

“She was probably entitled to win but in saying that, she’s improving too,” Crockett said.

“She was well beaten in the couple of starts before I got her and she’s run second, first and first since I’ve had her ... so if she keeps progressing and keeps improving she’s probably going places.

“Even though I thought the mile was a bit far, I thought she still had the ability to win.”

And with Ryan on board, it’d take a brave punter to back against Crockett’s star mare.

Comically for a horse named Beer Gut, the Forbes-based veteran completely missed the start and as the 10-year-old effectively gave the rest of the field a three-length head-start, Curtain Calls’ chances went from one in seven to one in six.

Initially, though, it was another Mudgee-based horse that shot to the front, with gelding Maldicente away quickly on the inside form Rexton and Basic Model.

Bathurstian began wide, and pressed from that position nearing the 1200-metre mark before claiming the lead at the 1000-metre marker.

At that point in time, two lengths back, Curtain Calls and Ryan bided their run and by the 800-metre pole Bathurstian remained in the lead from Cadel’s Luck, the Orange-based syndicate riding home its chance a length back as it hit the Towac Park straight.

But with about 450 metres to go Bathurstian opened up a two-and-a-half length gap on Cadel’s Luck.

It was at that moment Ryan and Curtain Calls lifted.

Strongly and timely, Curtain Calls rose on the outside of the race leader Bathurstian with the former edging the Paul Theobald-trained gelding by a nose to claim a narrow victory in the first at Towac Park.

“My thoughts on the race now are probably the same as they were before the race ... I would have preferred it to have been 1400, but I couldn’t find one. We had to go where we had to go,” Crockett said following the win.

“When Greg started to peel round them at the 600 I was pretty confident. Then when she hit the 50 I thought I might have been right here, she might only want the 1400 ... but when you’ve got Ryan on them lifting them, it gives them that extra persuasion to get home.”