The two-year-old, trained by Mudgee-based Cliff Rusten, has been a regular at Bathurst over the last two months and has justified the travelling with three wins and two thirds from his last five starts.

“He was a give-away from Victoria but he is well bred,” Rusten said.

“I got him because of that breeding and it has taken a while for him to come good but his recent form has justified a bit of patience.”

His latest victory came in the $750 Mount Panorama Final – his biggest career win but the flyer by Premier Fantasy and Prize Princess had to work hard for the win.

Premier Dooley started the race on the second line of betting at $3 along with Whispered Lies. Red Eraser started as $2.50 favourite after two straight wins while Shinerine and Deep Blue Sea were both $3.50 chances.

The Mudgee dog was beaten out of the box by several dogs including Deep Blue Sea and Whispered Lies but began moving his way through the pack as they reached the end of the back straight.

Premier Dooley was second behind Deep Blue Sea as they began the run to the line and was able to hit the lead in the closing stages of the race.

He finished half a length ahead of Deep Blue Sea, with Whispered Lies coming home in third, a further five and three quarter lengths behind.

Rusten said he was pleased with the win but admitted that the dog’s slow starts were hindering him.

“I was confident in his ability but worried about where he had drawn for the race (box seven) although it worked out pretty well,” he said.

“He’s not a good starter. He’s not terrible but he’s not as quick as some.

“We will try him over the longer distance now, he is very strong over 300m but we will see how he goes over 400m.”

But he won’t be lining up in any longer races at Bathurst this Saturday, with Rusten electing to trial him over his new distance before starting him for real.

“We will trial him over the 400m first to find out how he goes. He will have to run through the catching pen over that distance which is something new to him,” Rusten said.