Two Melbourne Cup heroines have figured prominently in the pedigrees of two winners in country Victoria on Thursday.

The Nigel Blackiston-trained Karata and Compass from the Kane Harris stable revived memories of two of the best Melbourne Cup winners of the modern era.

Karata, the last foal produced from the 1991 Melbourne Cup winner Let's Elope, posted the first win of his career in a 2200m maiden event.

A few races later, Compass, closely related to Makybe Diva, won impressively.

As a winner of 11 races and almost $3 million in stakes, Let's Elope's stud career couldn't match her racetrack achievements.

Her first three foals were conceived in the United States and they all won races with Ustinov, a son of Seeking The Gold, turning out to be the best.

Like his mother, Ustinov was trained by Bart Cummings and registered the most important of his two wins in the AAMI Vase on Cox Plate day at Moonee Valley.

He was placed four times at Group One level, including when runner-up in the 2001 Champagne Stakes as a two-year-old as well as the Caulfield Guineas the following season.

As a yearling with links to three-time Melbourne Cup winner Makybe Diva, Compass cost $600,000 but he found his way from leading trainer Gai Waterhouse's stable to the yard of Harris for $30,000.

Compass won races at Newcastle and Canterbury last year before he was produced first-up to win for Harris under 59.5kg.

By Redoute's Choice, he is the first foal of Valkyrie Diva, a half-sister to Makybe Diva.

Valkyrie Diva's second foal, also by Redoute's Choice, is the promising Lloyd Williams-owned colt Wales, a Listed winner at his first start last year.