The 20-year-old, who had the most wins - 116 - of any apprentice in Australia last season, drove rank outsider Dragon Dream and Kris Lees-trained import Spangler to victory before saving his best until last.

Gibbons was taking $2.50 favourite Diamond Diesel down the outside fence in search of the best ground when leader Time For victory shifted out into their path approaching the last 200m of the 1200m benchmark 64 handicap.

Without losing momentum, Gibbons quickly guided Diamond Diesel inside Time For Victory and pushed him to the line for a head victory in front of Rahni Factor on the heavy going.

On a day when premier jockey James McDonald had two wins from three rides, Gibbons showed he was at home among elite company.

The last ride made it two wins from two Australian starts for six-year-old Diamond Diesel since coming to the Gosford stable of Adam Duggan from Hong Kong.

"Lucky we've got a nice, big course proper here at Newcastle," Gibbons told Sky Racing of the late change of direction.

"Credit to Adam, it's a great training performance. To get him to win well first-up off such a long time, and then to back it up, especially in a brutally run test. The horse had to be spot on to cop that."

Earlier, Dragon Dream defied his $18 quote to hold on for a third-of-a-length victory in the 1600m benchmark 64 handicap for Wyong trainer Allan Kehoe.

"That was a cheeky little pick-up ride, so a nice winner," said Gibbons, who had victories with Miss Jay Fox and Hameron on the Kensington track on Wednesday.

"I thought I was in a bit of trouble but to his credit, he had to knuckle down, and it was a nice, tough win."

Gibbons' other winner came for his boss, Lees, who produced Irish-bred gelding Spangler for a second-up win in Australia after a fifth on debut on the Kensington track. Lees-trained Highly Ambitious was second, a third of a length away.

"He'd come on nicely from his first-up run, and it was probably a slight drop in grade, but he had to carry that weight," Lees said.

"A few runs presented coming to the corner when one ran off the track, so he probably had to expose him a touch early, and the filly put a bit of a fight to him, but he was good in the end."

McDonald's wins came aboard the James Cummings-trained Bayezid and Richard and Will Freedman's Pharoah's Reign.

MORE IN SPORT:

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: