Traffic held up apprentice jockey Kayla Nisbet but nothing could stop favourite Lord Of The Sky as he powered home at Caulfield on Saturday.
Nisbet got caught in city traffic and stewards sent an urgent call out to fellow apprentice Jake Duffy, who was 10 minutes from the course at Chadstone.
"They asked me if I could get there in time to ride the favourite in the first," Duffy said.
As Lord Of The Sky ($1.45) made his way to the mounting yard before the race, Nisbet could be seen walking behind him.
"The traffic was very, very slow," she said.
"It's very disappointing."
It was the three-year-old colt's first run for five months but after an unsteady start he knuckled down to lead in the National Patient Transport Plate (1000m) and win easily by 1-1/2 lengths.
In the six-horse field, Salute To Jude ($26) got home second followed by Romancingthestone ($16) a long neck away third.
Lord Of The Sky's trainer Robbie Laing said his horse had done all the work early and probably didn't have a lot left at the finish.
"I'm glad it wasn't 1100 metres," he said.
Laing will now look at the calendar for another suitable three-year-old race but is considering starting him in the Listed Christmas Stakes on Boxing Day.
"But whether or not he's good enough to take on the older horses, I don't know," he said.
Laing says Lord Of The Sky would need to improve if he was to be a contender for the Group One Oakleigh Plate in February.
"He wouldn't win an Oakleigh Plate on that run today," Laing said.