Trainer Matthew Ellerton had a long wait between wins at Flemington on Saturday, but the owners of Formidable had been hanging around a lot longer.

Ellerton trained Moparee, the first of Saturday's winners at Flemington, and then returned to the winner's stall to welcome Formidable after race seven.

"It was worth the wait, in every sense," Ellerton said.

Formidable won her first start just over a year ago and had raced 10 times since without success before tackling Saturday's Go Green Handicap (1200m).

Ellerton explained that Formidable had paid the price for her initial success, carrying big weights in tougher races.

"But she snuck down in the weights today and it made the difference," Ellerton said.

"She's a bit difficult as well. She's got a few quirks"

The return to the winning list wasn't unexpected with Formidable backed from $15 to $8.50 before she led throughout to score by a neck from Panzanella ($31) who finished a long neck ahead of Vicario ($10).

Formidable then had to survive a more-than-hopeful protest from Nick Hall on the runner-up that was quickly dismissed.