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When Adelaide-based trainer Paul Beshara was outed for six months last spring for race-day treatment of his star galloper Happy Trails on the morning of a major race at Moonee Valley, the battling trainer was devastated.
Happy Trails was by far the best horse he had ever had in his care, and the group 1-winning galloper had catapulted him to centre stage.
He admits that in those dark days when he was on the outer, thoughts of reuniting with his star horse - and the big prizes they could plunder together - kept him going. "I always dream of him winning big races and he kept me going in that period," he says.
Beshara was beaming at Flemington on Saturday when the horse he loves so much proved his tenacity and ability once again by scoring in the group 1 $1 million Mackinnon Stakes.
The $7 shot got home by a short half-head after a stirring three-way battle down the straight with the Chris Waller-trained He's Your Man and the English raider Farraaj, from Roger Varian's Newmarket stable.
Damien Oliver on Happy Trails and Brazilian superstar Joao Moreira (He's Your Man) staged a wonderful duel in the closing stages before Oliver prevailed.
Italian jockey Andrea Atzeni, on his first ride at Flemington, gave Farraaj every chance from the widest barrier which, in the end, may have made the difference between victory and defeat.
That said, nothing should be taken away from Happy Trails and his triumph - the third group 1 he has taken in his 45-start career.
The seven-year-old had made his group 1 breakthrough at the Melbourne Cup carnival two years ago when, ridden by Oliver, he took out the Emirates Stakes. He showed his liking for Flemington when he won the 2013 Turnbull Stakes under Dwayne Dunn, and confirmed his preference for headquarters with this win in the Mackinnon.
Beshara is one of those trainers who is generally described as a "character", as they are usually thrust into the spotlight once in a lifetime when they get a horse with this sort of ability.
But that doesn't mean he doesn't know how to get it fit and plan its program and, with an ounce of luck this spring, he could have added far more than this winner's cheque of $600,000 to his $2.2 million bankroll.
Happy Trails was slowly away in the Cox Plate last week and arguably would have been right in the finish had he got away with the rest, as he was beaten barely three-quarters of a length by Adelaide in a blanket finish. He had only gone down in a photo finish in the weight-for-age championship of Australia a year earlier when he came late and just failed to run down Shamus Award.
Certainly Beshara thinks he should have had a better record. "He's a true champion. He's won his three group ones [in] photos, and he's lost a couple by photos too," he said.
"His Cox Plate run was outstanding, it was a champion's run. I reckon he's the best weight-for-age horse in Australia, if not the world."
Asked how much he liked Happy Trails, he did not hold back. "I'd sleep with him - he's just such a great, great horse, He's so accommodating, he absolutely gives you his heart.
"You can't beat it, a second group 1 for 'Ollie' on him. He should have had a couple of Cox Plates there, but there are a lot of races that are should haves.
"Coming down the straight, that's what racing is about. He gives you his whole heart and he puts his head out on the line. I have never lost faith in him. He has had his share of bad luck, but it's had to come his way. He's a beautiful horse, he's beautiful."
Happy Trails will be spelled now, and then brought back for the riches on offer in the Sydney autumn.
"We will go and have a crack at the Doncaster and the Queen Elizabeth," said Beshara, with a grin as he contemplates the bumper tallies that could fall into his lap.
Oliver marvelled at the old gelding's grit and determination.
"He's Your Man gave a huge kick in the straight. I sat on him the whole way and he gave me a beautiful cart in and I thought I would just pick him off, but once I got up to him he really fought on," he said. "It was tooth and nail at the end, but we just managed to get the bob in.
"We can't let Joe [Moreira] take all that money back to Hong Kong, we have to keep some of that money here," he added, referring to Moreira's earlier successes in the group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes on Brazen Beau and the Lexus on Signoff, who he will partner in the Melbourne Cup.
Waller had saddled up Brazen Beau and the Carbine Club winner Kermadec so he had had a pretty good afternoon already. Still, he said, losing so narrowly with He's Your Man, his Epsom Handicap winner, still hurt.
"It's frustrating regardless of how well your day is going, but at least we know he's up to that level and his turn at weight-for-age won't be far away," he said.
He's Your Man is likely to clash with Happy Trails in the Doncaster and Queen Elizabeth.
Farraaj may now be sent to Hong Kong, with the Hong Kong Cup as his target.
