Fresh from success in Ballarat nine days earlier, Mr Journeyman ($3.10 favourite) produced a strong staying-like performance to land the prize by almost a length.

He ran down leader Mister MoneyPenny ($11) and then resisted a late charge by Burrumbeet Cup winner Asset Hound ($7), which had to second.

Jackie Beriman took the ride.

Mr Journeyman is a six-year-old trained by Simon Morrish in Ballarat and was having only his 10th race start.

This gives him four wins and $52,000 in earnings.

Mr Journeyman only arrived in Morrish's stable as four-year-old and has been taken along slowly.

He began this preparation with a second at Avoca in early December.

THE Melbourne metropolitan trainers' premiership battle could not be tighter.

Ballarat's Darren Weir, who is the reigning titleholder, moved back on level terms with the combination of David Hayes and Tom Dabernig at the top of the table with a treble at Flemington on Saturday.

Each has 39 wins for the season - Weir from 287 starters and Hayes-Dabernig from 293.

They are nine clear of Peter Moody, with Robert Smerdon four on 20.

Zanteco ($3.40 favourite) gave Weir his first success in the Racing.com Handicap, 2500m.

The New Zealand-bred son of Zabeel produced a sustained run to bring up back-to-back wins, following a win at Geelong on January 4.

Taiyoo ($4.60 favourite)) had his third win from his latest four runs in the Piping Lane Handicap, 2000m.

The five-year-old's wins have come at Sandown Hillside and twice at Flemington to take his race record to nine wins in 22 starts and an impressive $260,000 in stakes.

The US-bred Tonopah ($2 favourite) completed the treble for Weir in the Craftsman Handicap, 1700m.

Tonopah was previously trained by Craig Ritchie in Sydney and this was just the five-year-old's second start for Weir.

He is unbeaten in those runs, having won first-up at Sandown Lakeside.

“We’ve had him down in the sand dunes at Warrnambool and it’s just clicked really well with him,” Weir said.

“He got the job done and while it might not have looked great I thought he won well."

Weir said he might aim Tonopah towards the Mornington Cup Prelude, 2000m, at Caulfield in February.

“I reckon he’ll run ten furlongs (2000m) and might even run further,” he said.

“Watching him walk around the yard and behind the barriers on the big screen he’s a lovely laid back sort of horse.

“He looks like a nice stayer in the making and we’ll just take him through his grades and see where we end up at the end of this preparation,”  Weir said.