New Year's Day at Flemington, appropriately, was a day of confirmation for the winning riders of the main races, the $200,000 Group 3 Standish Handicap (1200 metres) and the $150,000 Listed Bagot Handicap (2800 metres).

For at least the past year almost no one has questioned whether Nicholas Hall (21 last April) would rise quickly to the top ranks of Victorian riders despite not starting his apprenticeship until he was 18; and almost everyone has questioned how much longer Darren Gauci  (who turned 43 on Boxing Day) would go on as good rides in big races began to dry up for the four-times champion jockey.

Going on the winning rides in the Standish (Gauci, King Hoaks) and Bagot (Hall, Good Red) - races that can be comfortably tagged time-honoured - each has much to look forward to in this new  year and beyond.