Gai Waterhouse declared there's no other place like Randwick as she celebrated the 100th Group One victory of her training career when Herculian Prince romped home to win the $400,000 Metropolitan Handicap on Saturday.In reaching the milestone exactly 18 years after Te Akau Nick gave her a maiden Group One result in the 1992 Metropolitan, Waterhouse posted her century faster than any other trainer.Because she reached the milestone on her home track, Waterhouse says it is a moment she will cheris

Gai Waterhouse declared there's no other place like Randwick as she celebrated the 100th Group One victory of her training career when Herculian Prince romped home to win the $400,000 Metropolitan Handicap on Saturday.

In reaching the milestone exactly 18 years after Te Akau Nick gave her a maiden Group One result in the 1992 Metropolitan, Waterhouse posted her century faster than any other trainer.

Because she reached the milestone on her home track, Waterhouse says it is a moment she will cherish forever despite her sometimes strained relationship with the Australian Jockey Club (AJC).

"I love the AJC and I love Randwick," she said. "I know I give the place a hard time but it's only because I love the place so much.

"It's the greatest place in the world to train and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."

It was appropriate Waterhouse produced a training performance for the ages because a week ago Herculian Prince couldn't beat a runner home as odds-on favourite in a lead-up race.

Evoking memories of the form reversal which carried Glastonbury to victory in 1994, Herculian Prince ($4.80) ran away to beat the imported stayer Mourayan ($18) by 3-1/2 lengths in the famous spring distance test.

The veteran No Wine No Song ($5.50), who beat Herculian Prince home by more than eight lengths last week, had to contend with a minor placing this time as he finished a long head behind the second placegetter.

"What a win by the winner. How do you work that out," No Wine No Song's jockey Jim Cassidy said.

Waterhouse was reluctant to accept all the accolades for Herculian Prince winning the most important race of his career and restoring the order to his Caulfield and Melbourne Cup campaign.

"I owe a lot of thanks to my foreman Steve Dennett," she said. "If I hadn't listed to him I wouldn't be here."

Waterhouse employed the use of a tongue control bit to have Herculian Prince in form-reversal mode.

"He was a different horse this week," winning jockey Nash Rawiller said.

"Last week he wanted to fight me. He was tense and uptight and it is obvious now he couldn't breath properly and he was stressing."

Rawiller took Herculian Prince to the front as the field settled and the ex-New Zealander set up an eight-length lead in the middle stages.

Plans to attempt an all-the-way victory came undone when Mourayan was set alight and taken to the front by Michael Rodd but Rawiller said he wasn't fazed by the move.

"I wanted to run my own race. I was mindful that I wanted to keep the horse in his comfort zone," he said.

Herculian Prince regained the lead past the 300 metres and cleared out, leaving Mourayan to fight off a wall of closers headed by No Wine No Song, Count Encosta and Hawk Island.

"We'll be shooting the breeze now and he'll be on a plane to Melbourne on Monday," Waterhouse said.