On a day where plenty of horses were scratched due to the heavy Illawarra Turf Club track, seven trainers had winners at the seven-race meeting.

But three-year-old Yiyi was a shining light in his fourth start.

The Bay gelding, ridden by jockey Mitchell Bell, was in front heading into the final straight and held on to salute by a half-length from Mark Newnham's Nearly Fine in the Denis McClune Maiden Plate over 1300 metres.

The win capped a fine day for Bell, who also rode the Hawkes-family trained Miracle Street to victory in the Bill Burnett Maiden Plate over 1000m.

While there were no local winners on Saturday, Therese Bateup's Divine Breath came within a nose of saluting in the Donny Mitchell F&M Class One Handicap over 1400m. The filly, ridden by Jess Taylor, powered home in the final 100 metres but Brad Widdup's Louder held on to claim the win.

Kembla Grange trainer Bateup said she delighted with Divine Breath's run.

"I was super happy with the effort," she said.

"She probably didn't really love the heavy conditions but she's all heart, she's always shown a fair bit of ability. It was just a bob of the head, probably another stride and she gets the money."

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The second-place finish continues Divine Breath's good recent form which included a trial win at Kembla Grange last November.

Bateup said the three-year-old would continue to get stronger and develop.

"I think she's going to turn into quite a nice filly with a bit of ability, so I probably won't do much more with her this preparation. She might have one more run than have a little freshen up," she said.

"We might look at something like a Scone Guineas or Wagga Guineas, those sort of races coming up in May. She's eligible for the Scone Guineas being an Inglis horse, so that's a nice little option. And I've had runners in the Wagga Guineas for the last couple of years. So I definitely think she will get out to a mile, no dramas at all."

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Fellow Kembla trainer Gwenda Markwell also had a runner finish second on Saturday, with Charm Offensive beaten by Richard Litt's Tessera in the Bruce McClune Conditional Benchmark 68 Handicap over 1200m.

The Annabel Neasham-trained Saffiano saluted in the Alan McGrath CG&E Class One Handicap (over 1400m) while Jason Coyle's Layla of Monaco claimed victory in the Grubby McGrath Maiden Plate over 1600m.

Clarry Conners' He's A Given capped the meeting by saluting in the KEC Benchmark 64 Handicap (over 2000m).