TO BE STANDING atop the podium late in the day at Daylesford was a shock for Ballarat's Adam Ratcliffe.Even most of his stablemates had returned home.Ratcliffe claimed his break-through win in the $500 open 400m final - the last race on the program yesterday.He made his return to the Victorian Athletic League circuit at Maryborough on Saturday after an 18-month running hiatus."I didn't think I still had it in me," Ratcliffe said."I had two good finals at Maryborough - the 200m and 70m - and it gave me the confidence to come up and win today."Ratcliffe (32m) fought off a fast-finishing James Deane (28m) and edging out Brian Wright (57m) to capture victory in 48.96 seconds.He pushed to the front in a tough final 100m, staying strong to the line.Ratcliffe has made a string of finals before at Cricket Willow but this was his first win at the venue."It's tough out here," Ratcliffe said."There are no true straights."More used to 800m, Ratcliffe has worked to get back to sprinting under coach Rod Mathews.The results are starting to show in a well-rounded 400m run.Ratcliffe will move back into a training period until the St Albans Gift carnival in four weeks' time.He is building towards Stawell and plans to also be out in force at home in Ballarat this April.
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