A few moments after his horse Handle The Truth, the first from the nation's capital to be included in the $1.3 million The Kosciuszko, had bounded clear to win the biggest cheque of his career, Dryden hits reverse.

He shuffles backwards from all the connections attached to The Kosciuszko winner. Dryden leans gently against a fence, surrounded by no one. It takes a while until someone actually spots him, offering an old school handshake rather than a new school hug.

Before the race he sounded out another man of his ilk, Peter Snowden, who once trained for Sheikh Mohammed and now is one of the most in-demand in Sydney. He gave Dryden his blessing with Handle The Truth.

"I thought he'd be pretty hard to beat," Dryden quipped. "I said, 'if he runs top five I'd be happy. If he ran top three I'd be ecstatic and if he wins there would be a party on'. He can run some cracking times, but you don't want to shoot your big mouth off. I don't want to, anyway."

So he let his horse do the talking.

Nash Rawiller stalked the leaders in midfield, bursting clear after climbing the rise to beat favourite Victorem by a length, with Bobbing a half-head back in third.

Handle The Truth's owner and breeder, Louis Mihalyka, stood a few steps to Dryden's left when his trainer was eventually spotted, fighting back tears.

He told the story of Handle The Truth's mother, which had three starts and was retired with just $750 in prizemoney. Her first foal had conformation problems. Having deduced there was only one breeding cross which would suit, Mihalyka mated her to Star Witness.

"It was just a beautiful cross and the first foal we had out of her had x-ray issues so we sold it for $2000," Mihalyka said. "The next one with clear x-rays we kept and it's this horse. By the end of the journey we're on the way.

"A year ago we had our 30-year celebration lunch [for the partnership between owner and trainer] and we had 80 people there. It's phenomenal. We've had some good horses together with Into The Night and this bloke.

"If we came here and ran third, we'd be celebrating, but to come here and win it I don't know what's going to happen."

Dryden spoke of his struggle to find staff members for his stable, the existing ones working overtime just to keep the cogs turning.

Two years ago Dryden's foreman, Riharna Thomson, was killed in a trackwork accident. It devastated not only his business but the close-knit Canberra racing fraternity.

It's why all Handle The Truth's owners were going to savour what a day like this meant to them.

"Most of the slot-holders are pensioners and one of them said to me, 'if we win this I'll have some money to pay the bills'," Dryden said. "It's the biggest prize I've ever won."

The winning ticket was bought by a group of punters from Shellharbour, led by former Wollongong car dealer Albert Tory. He's also raced horses with Dryden.

"The boys told me to find a horse for them," Tory said. "I've had horses with Keith and it's the easiest deal I've ever done in my life."

Victorem's trainer, Jenny Graham, could find no excuses for Victorem, unlike Paul Messara's Luna Mia, who was locked up all the way down the straight.

"He got his chance and he was just beaten by a better horse on the day," Graham said. "I'll be back next year though."

And so will Dryden, having worn another winter battle. And with his horses ready to do the talking.