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Jason Maskiell doesn’t come home to ride in Tasmania often these days, but when he does the talented rider usually makes his presence felt and such was the case aboard Square Donut in Devonport last Sunday.

Jason Maskiell took the ride on the Dylan Clark-trained gelding and after giving him the gun run in the Kevin Sharkie Class 3 Handicap over 1350 metres, they powered home to score a convincing win over Hero Of Romani and Alpine Aviator.

Square Donut raced behind the leaders and Maskiell patiently waited for the gap to appear and when it did the six-year-old son of Reward for Effort claimed the leader and went on to win by almost 1-1/2 lengths.

"I thought we would win a long way out but at one stage I was hoping for a run to appear and when it did the horse pretty much took the gap and it was all over," Maskiell said.

"It's always nice to come home to catch up with family and friends and riding a winner is always a bonus."

Maskiell has been living in Victoria for over three years where his wife Candi and their son Colt have settled into new digs at Traralgon.

"Things are going well, although I have to do a bit of travelling to get rides, but overall life is good."

It would appear Fathers' Day is special for six-year-old gelding Needarein that went into a race in Devonport last Sunday having not won for a year to the day.

Needarein (Needs Further-Abadeena) came from last with Chelsea Baker aboard to grab victory in the concluding stages of the Carlton Draught Benchmark 68 Handicap over 1650 metres.

Thompson has been mixing up the gelding's training regime that includes some equestrian work, which the horse loves.

"I started to put him over a few jumps at home just to give him something different and he really warmed to it," Thompson said.

"He has always shown me a lot of ability but for reasons only known by him, he hasn't been able to find it regularly on race days.

"But he is a happy horse at home these days as he relishes the equestrian-type work and is thriving on stable life with that included in the mix."

Baker said the gelding gave her a good feel throughout the race.

"Once he got travelling, he felt really good and he gathered in the leaders under his own steam without any persuasion from me," Baker said.

When Needarein, part-owned by this writer, has run his last race, Thompson is confident the gelding will remain at his Cressy training complex to continue life at hunt club meetings and in the show ring.

In the meantime, Thompson plans to enter Needarein for another benchmark race in Devonport on Sunday week, in which he is likely to meet similar opposition to that which he raced against last Sunday.