Pat Duff praised jockey Brad Stewart after they combined with grand galloper Hard To Catch to snatch a narrow victory in the Gold Coast Stakes on Wednesday.Stewart produced a masterly ride to bring Hard To Catch with a well-timed run to beat Vocalic by a half-head in the $100,000 1200m feature.The evergreen Hard To Catch has now won 13 races for prizemoney totalling more than $1.1 million and Duff is confident the best is yet to come for the seven-year-old.Stewart has partnered Hard To Catch in

Pat Duff praised jockey Brad Stewart after they combined with grand galloper Hard To Catch to snatch a narrow victory in the Gold Coast Stakes on Wednesday.

Stewart produced a masterly ride to bring Hard To Catch with a well-timed run to beat Vocalic by a half-head in the $100,000 1200m feature.

The evergreen Hard To Catch has now won 13 races for prizemoney totalling more than $1.1 million and Duff is confident the best is yet to come for the seven-year-old.

Stewart has partnered Hard To Catch in the majority of his biggest wins but their best performance came in defeat when the horse was beaten a head by Mr Baritone in the Stradbroke Handicap at Eagle Farm last year.

Duff said he was confident Hard To Catch would race well but added Stewart's knowledge of the horse made all the difference.

"Brad just knows this horse so well and he rides him so well. I'm never worried where he puts him during the run because I know he will have the horse where he needs to be," Duff said.

"He's a truly wonderful old horse and that was one of his best wins."

Duff hasn't fixed his compass on any certain direction and Brisbane, Sydney and even New Zealand are all on the radar for Hard To Catch.

"He's paid up for the Doncaster and he will head there if the rain comes," Duff said.

"There's also a mile (1600m) race at Ellerslie during Easter which is worth $400,000 but whatever we do it will be all aimed toward having him at his peak for another crack at the Stradbroke in June."

Earlier, an unlikely Tasmanian connection upstaged the locals when 16-year-old apprentice Darryl Horner notched his biggest win in the Apprentice Series National Cup (1200m).

Horner produced a gutsy ride to lift the Kelly Doughty-trained Worth Doing to a short head win over local lad Michael Palmer on Laurels.

The race was the fourth leg of the National Apprentice Series and junior riders from every state and territory in Australia competed.

Horner is apprenticed to Barry Campbell at Devonport and Doughty learned her trade on the Apple Isle and still has strong ties through her brother, leading Tasmanian trainer John Blacker.

"My other brother Troy and my father George still train there as well," Doughty said.

"It was pure coincidence to get Darryl when the draw came out but he rode the horse really well and he's a very good horse."

Worth Doing gave Horner his 22nd career win and the lanky youngster said he was keen to compete against his fellow apprentices in similar races in the future.

"That's the first apprentice race I've ridden in and I'd love the opportunity to do it again," he said.

"It's a great thrill to win a race like that and it's by far the best race I've won so far."