But if it applies to Hezredhot as well, then Kirkup's in for a hell of a ride with the five-year-old gelding.

Hezredhot made it back-to-back wins in the Federal Handicap (1300 metres) at Thoroughbred Park on Melbourne Cup Day.

The first he won at Queanbeyan, while border restrictions forced Canberra Racing to hold their meets across the border in NSW.

The second he won back on his home track as 1000 punters marked the first big event in the ACT since the lockdown ended.

He saluted by about three-quarters-of-a-length from Propose To Me, with Mr Kylin third.

Kirkup was unsure where to next with his son of Hidden Dragon.

He was too busy enjoying the win, having gone in just looking for a good run before looking to the future.

Now he thinks he has a horse that might be handy in the good country races.

"It's a little bit hard to say at the moment. We just wanted to see what happened today before we started working out where we're going from here," Kirkup said.

"He's going to be a nice horse for the decent races around the country areas.

"We're just rapt he's won two Federals in a row.

"Deep down I thought he'd be really hard to beat and anyway it worked out.

"I haven't really looked at any other races at the moment."

Just 1000 people were allowed at Thoroughbred Park on Tuesday, but Canberra Racing hoped their capacity will be increased for their meeting at the end of November - when further easing of restrictions were expected.

It's been almost three months since the last time racing was held in Canberra, in early August just before the lockdown started.

Kirkup said while it was a small crowd - normally about 5000 head to the ACT races on Melbourne Cup Day - it was a noisy one.

And he hoped it pointed to a brighter future after 18 months of a pandemic.

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"It's great to be back at Canberra and there's a bit of a crowd here today," Kirkup said.

"Things just seem a bit back to normal, but not quite normal.

"But things were good here today and it's just good the club can get things going again.

"We'll be looking forward to the future anyway, things get better and better.

"Small crowd, but there was plenty of yelling and a bit of atmosphere going on so it can only get better."