Maddie Raymond ended her career-best season on a winning note at The Valley on Saturday when Home Rule provided her 19th win for the season.

As she prepares for the upcoming spring, the Warrnambool-based trainer will have some familiar names but also new names she hopes will continue the winning run next season.

Raymond will stick to a sprinting preparation with Turaath as she plots spring goals with her leading mare.

“We always thought last prep we would try and stretch her out to a mile but I think she is best at that 1200-1400 metre trip,” Raymond explained.

“She ran third to Marabi in the Australia Stakes and that was in preparation for a 1400 metre run so I think we will train her a bit more like a sprinter rather than teach her to settle for a mile.

“Something like a Manikato might be up her sleeve this time.”

Stringing four wins together last year culminating in the G2 Lets Elope at 1400 metres, Raymond stretched the mare out to 1600 metres in her autumn campaign.

“She’s a ripper, she’s very tough and very honest,” Raymond professed.

“She had a decent break and probably hasn’t had one ever in her life because they don’t really spell them like we do overseas.

“We probably won’t see her until a bit later on the spring.

“She is just starting her fast work now.”

Raymond has also added a new acquisition to her Warrnambool base in Heart of Puissance, but he won’t be seen this spring.

“We are going to give him a break,” Raymond explained.

“His preference is those softer and wet tracks and he has had his niggles along the way so we’ve gelded him as well.

“But just a change of environment and the beach access will help him immensely.”

The six-year-old has raced 14 times for four victories. He last raced during the Warrnambool Carnival finishing second after eight months on the sidelines.

Another newcomer to join the stable is former Lloyd Williams-owned galloper Cormorant who Darren Freyer paid $105,000 for via online auction earlier this year.

“He’s good really really good overseas form and didn’t bring that over to Australia,” Raymond admits.

“But if we can regenerate that he is a really handy horse.

“We gave him a break and he’s at Fulmen Park on the water walker and due back next week.

“If he puts his hand up he might be seen later in the carnival as well.

“He is the kind of horse that would match up against Wentwood in the bigger country cups.”

With his ownership group, Raymond said the 2023 Warrnambool Cup could be high on his agenda.

Last years Bendigo Cup winner Wentwood would be put on a similar path which also includes the Coongy and Ballarat Cup.

Turaath has put herself in line for a $1.6 million pay day after the English-bred mare extended her winning run in Melbourne to four with a gusty victory in the Group 2 Let's Elope Stakes at Flemington on Saturday.

The Maddie Raymond-trained mare overcame a wide run and some worthy rivals to score in what is the first leg of a new $1m bonus for mares who win the Let's Elope and follow it with victory in the $1m G1 Empire Rose Stakes (1600m) on October 30.

In quite an extraordinary performance, Turaath managed to race wide for the majority of the 1400-metre race but still kicked clear inside the 200-metre mark to establish a winning break.

On the line, Turaath ($5.50) was a length-and-three-quarters clear of Mystic Journey ($14), who finished on from the rear, with fellow Tasmanian mare Still A Sar ($6) a neck away in third.

The win registered a treble for jockey Damian Lane, after earlier Flemington victories aboard Tooradin (Race 1) and Harbour Views (Race 5).

"I'm still shaking," Raymond said after her first Stakes success as a trainer. "I had to catch my breath coming down here. I'm super excited.

"She's such a tough mare. She didn't do it easy again. She sat out wide with no cover and she was rock-hard fit and super competitive.

"She stepped just half a stride slow. We did think she'd settle wide with cover, which didn't work out either. She was super fit going into it. Such a tough, honest horse.

"We've been looking for a reason not to come (to the races today) and give her a break but she's so tough. If anything, you treat her like a colt. She eats well, she thrives off her work and she's shown that today."

Raymond said that although she is concerned the mare has been up for a while, she will look at stepping her to 1600 metres for the first time in the Empire Rose.

"The way she relaxed today - even in the mounting yard and out the back - she's definitely improving," she said.

Lane explained that he'd never ridden the mare before but did expect her to lead.

"She normally flies the gates and everyone was probably expecting her to lead, but it didn't eventuate and I let her cruise through her gears and she sat third," he said.

"I was always confident in the run that I had plenty in the locker."

$4 favourite Instant Celebrity got a long way back and while she did make some ground late for sixth place, vets later revealed she had mucus on the scope following the race.

Current Stable

1. Angelwalker
   
2. Ashworth (GB)
   
3. Cunnamulla
   
4. General Bordeaux (GB)
   
5. Pacodali (IRE)
   
6. Parafield Gardens
   
7. Tovolo Gap (NZ)
   
8. Wentwood (GB)