In Her Time may have scored a surprise debut victory at Canterbury on Wednesday, but for her 33-year-old trainer Benjamin Smith it's been a long time coming.

The Hunter Valley-born Smith has been around horses all his life, starting as a stablehand for the late Bart Cummings before entering the world of horse training.

He served as foreman for renowned trainers Peter Snowden, John Thompson and country trainer Greg Bennett before taking over the reins as a trainer in his own right more than four years ago.

"My grandparents and family have always been around horses," he said.

"I tried to steer away from that early on but the horses came calling.

"It's been a solid foundation."

In Her Time snuck under the guard of punters at $81 but produced a late surge to come up trumps over Zara Bay in the McGrath Estate Agents Handicap.

Smith said the three-year-old had always shown promise but was an unknown quantity given her lack of race-day experience.

"We always had an opinion of her, but we had to wait and see. She had to do it on race day," he said.

"We've always liked her. It's a tough effort, one trial in Newcastle, (then) coming to Sydney with a wide barrier."

Smith said he would look to step In Her Time up to Saturday class.

"That was impressive today," he said.

"We won't be too demanding on her this preparation, we'll just make a natural progression to Saturdays, I think."