Iamajoyride led the entire journey in the $15,000 feature but was pushed all the way to the line by her two rivals, who each finished less than 1.3m behind her.

"She had to do work early to hold her lead and then copped some mid race pressure and then did well to hold them off at the end. There was a lot of merit in her win," Hewitt said.

"Once I got back under them on the first turn I felt alright, because she's fairly strong. A few tried to get across early so she did well to hold them off.

"After doing a lot of that work I wasn't so sure if she'd hold on, and I knew there were a couple back in the field who hadn't done any work and might have been a good chance of finishing off good.

"It was a bit of a step up in grade for her so she's done a good job."

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The leading trio were more than 23 metres clear of the rest of the field in the cup while the winning mile rate was 2:00.3.

Attention now turns to Wednesday night at Bathurst, where five Hewitt-trained hopes will go around.

Always Thunder appears one of his best chances after two wins and two placings in four starts this time in.

No Dubbo trainers will make the trip to Bathurst Paceway.

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