Ann Barnes knew Nangar Gift had to get away well.
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That's all it was going to come down to in Saturday night's Million Dollar Chase Regional Final (516m) at Dawson Park.
Barnes need not to worry though as Nangar Gift flew out of box eight and blitzed her competitors in a scintillating win in front of one of the biggest crowds seen at the Dubbo track in some time.
The victory means the Dennis Barnes-trained bitch will now head into next month's Milliopn Dollar Chase semi-finals at Wentworth Park, and victory there would send her into the rich final.
"It was very pleasing," Ann Barnes said.
"Especially with the eight box. She had to get across and she had to lead to win it. She can't come from behind so I was really pleased to see her in front."
Connie's Boy, Jimmy Casey, and Buck's Future ran second to fourth respectively and also earned passage through to the semi-finals.
But the night was all about Nangar Gift and Barnes was visibly emotional after the commanding three-length win recorded in a time of 29.56 seconds.
"It's good because it's a family business," she said.
"We bred her and we reared her so it's a thrill when yo go through all that in two years to get her to a race like this."
The Barnes, based at Cudal, received plenty of praise for their work after the win.
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The team of Dennis, Ann and extended family puts in a huge amount of work and are regulars around the regional tracks while also making regular trips to premier tracks like Wentworth Park.
Given the sheer amount of work required in breeding and training Dennis wasn't able to make the trip Dubbo but another trip to Sydney now looms.
In her heat last week, Nangar Gift shot out of box one and led early before having to settle for second behind the eye-catching Midnight Joyce.
But in the one that mattered on Saturday night Nangar Gift never looked like getting caught.
Nangar Gift, who had firmed into $7.50 late on, jumped well and got across to lead from Cliff Keeping ($27.80).
Connie's Boy had came into a $3.30 favourite before the race and also started to push forward but Nangar Gift was well clear and led by almost seven lengths at one point down the back straight.
From there it was all smooth sailing on the way to victory while Connie's Boy finished strong for second and Jimmy Casey produced an almighty run home to come in third.
Nangar Gift's win was a welcome return to form after some mixed results of late while it took her overall record to 18 wins from 53 starts.
"She went off a little bit on her form and we eased up on her a little and took her to Bathurst [heats] and she didn't do that well there," Barnes said.
"She got in a bit of trouble so we brought her up here and she's boomed here so hopefully she's in that purple patch again."
Barnes also had a huge amount of praise for the Dubbo meeting, with the bumper crowd treated to a night of live music from country star Adam Harvey as well as the top-class racing.
"It's a really good crowd," she said.
"It's really pleasing and Dubbo has put a great program tonight and that's a credit to them. I was at Bathurst and the atmosphere wasn't there like it is here so it's fantastic for Dubbo to have such a good night."
Barnes said one run at Wentworth Park in the lead-up to the October 11 semi-finals of the Chase is likely for Nangar Gift.