There were plenty of things going through apprentice Reece Jones's mind after he steered Devil's Throat to a narrow win at Rosehill – a win that saw him lose his 1.5kg claim.

It was the 27-year-old's 80th city win and despite the driving finish in the Agency Real Estate Handicap (1200m), where he arrived on the line to beat Kipsbay, his first thought was he'd won shortly followed by the need to buy dog food and of course paying tribute to the man who started it all.

That was Scone trainer Rod Northam who took Jones on as a 20-year-old back in 2016, provided his first win at his first ride two years later and guided him into a position to come to town.

And Jones said it was also fitting he reached the milestone on a horse trained by his current masters Peter and Paul Snowden.

"(Rod Northam) was a massive help, I wouldn't be anywhere near where I am today without him,'' Jones said.

"He taught me basically how to ride and started from scratch with me. I owe an awful lot to him.

"It was a goal of mine to get that done. End of an era, up with the big boys now.

"I've got a good book of rides next week so hopefully they don't take me off because I don't have a claim any more."

Jones has been in a purple patch in recent weeks with a treble at Rosehill two weeks ago, a double at Randwick last Saturday, a midweek winner at Canterbury and Devil's Throat gave him a double having won the Midway earlier in the meeting on Uzziah.

On Devil's Throat, the gelding recovered quickly after a slow start but wasn't as close as Jones wanted to be coming to the turn. He rallied and while most weren't sure of the result, Jones had no doubt.

Sky's Corey Brown asked Jones what was on his mind when they crossed the line.

"That I did it. I also remembered I've got to pick up dog food on the way home,'' Jones said.

"I would have liked to be in that one-one spot, stepping up 2kg on his back with Kipsbay being the likely leader. He was the danger in the race and I wanted to be on his back.

"I'm delighted to get that done, it's a massive milestone for me personally and I couldn't be happier."

Jones said there are no plans to finish his apprenticeship early, it concludes in early September, and join the senior ranks.

History Repeats For Waller Youngsters

If recent history is any guide, it'll pay to track the careers of both Congregation and beaten favourite Tutta La Vita who hit the line together in the TAB Handicap (1300m).

The former maintained his unbeaten record but trainer Chris Waller was quick to label both as horses to keep an eye on when they turn three.

A year ago Waller won the race with a colt beating a filly – Osipenko upset his more fancied stablemate Madame Pommery. The former trained on to win the Hobartville and Frank Packer Plate earlier this year and was placed in the Caulfield Guineas while the latter won the Group 1 Thousand Guineas

"I think both connections have really nice horses,'' Waller said.

"I think the filly will win a really nice race, a Flight Stakes type of horse, and Congregation is just a lovely colt who keeps improving. I thought she had the momentum and was going to win so he must have kicked.

"We like these horses to get some runs under their belts. They only raced 10 days ago but you could just see it was an obvious race they needed to run in to help the rest of their career."

Waller said it's possible Congregation, the $2.25m colt, could back up in next week's Group 1 JJ Atkins Stakes (1600m) at Eagle Farm.

Tutta La Vita, who was unlucky not to win having been held up at a vital stage while the stablemate gathered momentum, is headed for a break with the Princess Series on her spring agenda.

Options Aplenty For Promising Grebini

Co-trainer Sterling Alexiou has a bit of thinking to do about where to point emerging galloper Grebeni after he made light work of the Furphy Handicap (1800m), thanks to a gun ride by Kerrin McEvoy.

Alexiou, who trains the gelding with Gerald Ryan, said he couldn't have written the script better if he'd had the pen after McEvoy offset Grebeni's awkward alley quickly and parked him forward of midfield.

"He managed to get probably four extra horses behind him than I thought he'd have, he got him in a nice rhythm and presented at the right time and was strong late,'' Alexiou said.

"He has a very good turn of foot for a horse stepping up to this sort of trip so when he relaxed so early I knew he was going to be able to put them away."

There's two options for Grebeni at the next Rosehill meeting over 1800m and 2000m though Alexiou said the Listed Sunshine Coast Guineas (1600m) isn't out of the question – and McEvoy said he felt the three-year-old would have no trouble coming back in distance.

That's based on the sharpness he showed when making his move – Grebeni ran the fastest last 600m of 34.40 (Punter's Intelligence) including race best splits of 11.48 (600m-400m) and 11.22 (400m-200m).

"I don't think he is just a 2000m horse, I think he could come back in trip if he wanted to. I think he's versatile,'' he said.

"I was able to scoot across into a nice spot. I thought I'd be giving them a bit of a start but I was in that dominating spot where I could pick and choose. He powered away, he's a nice horse and he's going to keep improving."

McEvoy rode five winners on the Rosehill program - with Al Aabir's Winter Cup, Robusto taking out the ninth and Winning Verse the last to add to Congregation and Grebeni.

New Command In Singapore For Shalatin

Those following the fortunes of former Joe Pride-trained three-year-old Shalatin need to look out for the name Lord's Command when he makes his Singapore debut for trainer Jason Lim.

Shatain raced 12 times for Pride without success but did collect $282,650 for his owners from six seconds and a third, the bulk in his two-year-old year when he was runner-up in the $1m Golden Gift and third in the Group 2 Todman Stakes.

The gelding hasn't appeared in a trial or race as yet in Singapore but he was only exported in the middle of April.

Kelley Tryin' For Fresh Shot At Kosciuszko

Trainer Matthew Kelley is adamant his stable star I'Ve Bean Tryin'' will appeal to Kosciuszko ticket winners and is setting the gelding to run in the $2 million country feature first-up.

I've Bean Tryin', third in the Country Championships Final, heads to the paddock after a gallant fourth at Rosehill in the Schweppes Handicap (1500m) where he sat deep but was beaten three-quarters of a length by Robusto.

"You only have to look at his first-up run of this preparation over 1200m at Warwick Farm and it was first class,'' Kelley said.

"I think he's done more than enough to earn his spot. You only have to watch that race today and he's one of the better country horses going around."

The Canberra trainer plans to give I've Bean Tryin' seven or eight weeks in the paddock and build him up slowly to be ready to resume on October 14.

The four-year-old is a $26 chance in TAB's all-in Kosciuszko market. An announcement on when the $5 sweepstake tickets go on sale is expected later this month.