Diamonds’n’rubies claimed the biggest win of her short career when triumphant in the TABtouch Westspeed Platinum Winter Series Final (1400m) at Belmont, leading throughout to clinch the $100,000 feature.

Holly Watson was quick to offset the outside barrier of 10 and pushed the Maschino four-year-old onto the front after 200m.

Meanwhile, Mt Shirataku ($1.75f) had worked hard to get around outside Diamonds’n’rubies ($7) and sat two lengths from the pacesetter, who went at a genuine tempo upfront.

Entering the straight, it soon became apparent that Mt Shirataku was below his best as he dropped out tamely and Diamonds’n’rubies shot three lengths clear of the pack.

Finally, at the 200m, Watson asked for Diamonds’n’rubies as the well-tried Right To Silence ($8.50) began to balance up and hit top stride.

But despite a late rally, the post arrived in time for the bold front-runner, who held Right To Silence by a half-length.

Winning trainer Mitchell Pateman credited the racing style of the chestnut and the patience of owner Ross Waddell.

“She gets that separation around the home corner and that wins you races nine times out of 10,” Pateman said.

“I’m just rapt for Ross; he’s an awesome man. I told him about a month ago, ‘just let me go a month between runs with her and I reckon she can win the final’.

“He backed me in, and he was happy to do that, so I’m glad it’s paid off for him.”

Pateman said the delicate mare could not handle a rigorous racing diet and consequently constructed a long-range plan to attack this event without having recently competed.

“She’s really soft. She melts raceday and she’s not that good in her feed bin at home,” he said.

“I learned a valuable lesson last prep, so at least I’m learning. I tried to back her up in the Westspeed heats at Ascot and I lost her for the whole preparation.

“I thought fresh, and obviously $100,000 races for horses like her don’t come along often, so we had a crack, and she was good enough to hold on.”

With previous earnings of less than $60,000 from her 11 appearances, Diamonds’n’rubies boosted her stakes in excess of $130,000 and Pateman feels there is more to come.

“I’ve always had a good opinion of her. She lost her way last prep, but we seem to have a good handle on her now and if you keep her runs spaced, she goes well,” he said.

“I’m sure she’ll be competitive in better races, anyway.”

Watson said the mare’s early pace set up victory when she was able to overcome the wide alley with ease.

“She’s definitely got good speed out of the barriers. We’d drawn nicely in those previous races, and we drew a bit sticky today, so Mitchell said, ‘put the handlebars down and find the fence’,” she said.

“She had a light weight today compared to the others and I thought she was a chance of running the 1400m fresh.

“(Mitchell) is doing a wonderful job. He does a really good job with his team, and he looks into each horse and places them really well and looks after them really well.”

It brought up a double for the Pateman-Watson combination after the strongly supported Farnova ($11 to $4.20) also led all the way in the opening contest.

+ Opportunistic ($3.90f) is narrowly favourite for the Listed $125,000 South West Cup (2213m) at Bunbury on Sunday afternoon.

The William Pike-ridden gelding leads markets ahead of Hoba West ($4.20) and Diamond Scene ($5).