On the 10th anniversary of meeting his now fiancee Lynne Rees at the carnival, Petch’s With Every Bound won the 1700-metre maiden plate yesterday by six lengths from Tramell ($2.70 favourite).

With Rees in the car driving to Warrnambool at the time of the win, Petch said the pair’s celebration plans would be ramped up.

Adding to the party atmosphere was that Petch had a small wager on his runner, which was backed in from $26 to $16.

Petch had been a regular at the carnival for about 16 years before stepping up to training. 

“I think it’s only the second runner I’ve had at the carnival,” he said. 

“I’ve always wanted to train a winner here. It’s like the Melbourne Cup, everyone wants to win one.” 

Petch paid tribute to strapper Claire Douglas, who had put a lot of time into the four-year-old gelding’s preparation. 

She too had plenty of reasons to celebrate, with her fiance, Irish jockey Alan Creighton, producing the winning ride.