The spring racing carnival came close to a premature end for leading jockey Luke Nolen when he fell from his mount in the Pro-Ride Handicap (2400m) at Geelong on Wednesday.

Nolen was about to make his run on Arch Fire when the horse clipped heels and dipped severely.

The horse stayed upright and although Nolen hit the turf heavily he escaped injury.

In the absence of his main rival, the Irish-bred Garud ($3.90 fav) scored a convincing win, adding yet another race to the credit of internationally-bred stayers.

Trainer Mike Moroney said he expected the horse who did his early racing in England to develop into a good class stayer.

"He won first time out for us in March and I've been looking forward to getting him over some ground," Moroney said.

"This time next year I'm hoping we'll be looking at an even better horse."

Garud scored by 3-3/4 lengths from Bioko ($31) with Lucky Angel ($9) a further length away, third.