A fighting win by Catkins in the NSW Thoroughbred Breeders' Classic at Rosehill has given the mare her first Group Two victory and signalled she is on target for her best campaign yet.

Runner-up to her Chris Waller-trained stablemate Red Tracer in the Group One Myer Classic in October, the four-year-old had to dig deep to beat Steps In Time in Saturday's feature.

Steps In Time ($6.50) had won the past two editions and looked to have a third in the bag but Hugh Bowman drove Catkins ($3.90) to the line a half head to the better of her rival.

Favourite White Sage ($2.40) finished 2-1/4 lengths third in what was her first taste of Group company.

After steady rain during the day, the Rosehill track was in the slow range, albeit softer in parts.

The conditions were to the liking of Catkins who is adept on all surfaces.

Catkins' owners were not at Rosehill and Waller had to leave the track to fly to Melbourne before the mare's win but left plenty of delighted staff behind to celebrate.

"She is a lovely mare and deserved her first Group Two," racing manager Liam Prior said.

"She will head to the Coolmore Classic. Red Tracer will more than likely be handicapped out of that now.

"How Catkins gets to the Coolmore I'm not sure but there is a mares' race every week so there are plenty of options."

Steps In Time's new trainer Joe Pride could not hide his disappointment.

"I'm not disappointed with her but I am disappointed with the result," he said.

"I thought we had it. She will head to the Coolmore Classic and hopefully we get a surface that suits."

The Waller stable had more reason to celebrate when imported gelding Junoob claimed his second successive Australian win when he held off Jacquinot Bay in the 1900m Benchmark 95.

His owner Richard Pegum had thoughts of the Wagga Wagga Gold Cup but Prior said his targets might need to be reassessed.

"It sometimes takes these horses a while to get used to the seasonal changes," he said.

"He is a case in point and there might be better races for him."