Murray rode Gunnie Girl and Butterfly Flag to victory in the first two races, before Santiago was first across the finish line in race three.

In the opening race, the Tab.com.au 3YO maiden plate 1100m which had a field of 13, the Alex Martyn-trained Gunnie Girl was in barrier four and made a mockery of its starting price (SP) of $9.

Brooklyn Lass finished fourth after being the $2.30 favourite, while Break Up came seventh after being the second favourite with $3.20.

The second and third placegetters had SPs of $51 and $31 respectively, with runner-up Lockout in barrier 12 and finishing just 0.1 lengths behind Gunnie Girl while Joanne’s Cruisin’ was 0.9 lengths behind the winner.

Gunnie Girl had had two second placings and a fifth placing since June, with Murray the rider each time.

“Stepping up to 11 under has helped her,” Martyn said.

Tuesday’s opening race at Quirindi produced Martyn’s first win since he became a full-time trainer and moved to Gunnedah nearly a year ago, having been a part-time trainer in Scone.

Muswellbrook trainer Mark Schmetzer meanwhile enjoyed his 101st career win when Butterfly Flag triumphed, after Schmetzer’s 100th victory was at Muswellbrook on Melbourne Cup day when Run Cannon Run achieved a first placing.

Butterfly Flag was second favourite with an SP of $3.70 while $2.80 favourite The Getaway ran third. Third favourite World Class came fourth while fourth favourite Ciqala came second in the Tab.com.au maiden plate 1600m race.

Butterfly Flag was in barrier three while Ciqala was in barrier 10, with Ciqala finishing one length behind the victor.

Schmetzer considered Butterfly Flag came to Quirindi “as good as she could be”, having come second at Cessnock before being a little underdone when coming seventh at Muswellbrook. Schmetzer described Butterfly Flag as “a bit of a quirky horse”, saying the bay mare was very highly strung.

As for any win, Schmetzer said it “keeps the owners happy and keeps the stable ticking over”.