Firstly, he definitely stands alone as a judge of pace. Very few can balance a horse at speed like Walsh and when he applies the pressure for a finishing sprint he doesn't pull the whip and bash with an all-out effort.
He gives a horse one, maybe two, reminders with the whip then sets about sustaining a long unravelling finish. One of his subtleties on Saturday was to do with the extremely strong wind, which was head-on up the home straight.
"I wanted to sneak him clear before the home turn because horses were struggling to make ground into the wind from the 400m. If you could get clear it was an advantage."
Joostens, essentially a stockman, has owned only half a dozen horses in a lifetime, but he has done well with the now 9-year-old Bragato with a bankroll of $255,585.
The plain customer is fairly regarded as a mudder, but that's not to say he likes all wet tracks.
"He's a strange customer," says Walsh, "one day he'll handle a certain type of wet track and next week on the same footing he won't."
Joostens has a theory: "He doesn't like it when it's wet on the day. He seems to always prefer a track that's been heavy and is drying out slightly."
That was the exact scenario for Saturday's track.
Grand old galloper Indikator ran home doggedly for second, inconvenienced by the fact Walsh made certain the tempo was never going to suit the back runners.
This was the second time Bragato has won the Mitchelson Cup and don't bet he won't be back as a 10-year-old to try for three. "With the incentives the club offers, it's a great place to come," said Joostens.
"I'm going to take this horse to the big day at Hastings next Saturday and it will cost me a lot more than racing here."
Ardmore trainer Danny Walker called his Hong Kong owner Danny Wong on Friday offering to Skype Twilight Dragon's 1.20pm race from Ellerslie the following day.
"Don't be silly, I'll still be asleep," was Wong's reply.
Shame, he would have seen a brilliant front-running winning performance by Twilight Dragon - his fourth straight win.
Walker is adamant that as impressive as Twilight Dragon has been - five wins from 10 starts - he will be spelled. "He doesn't have the greatest pair of knees and I don't want to risk him when the tracks get firm. He can wait until the autumn."
Walker only ever prepares a handful of horses, but you'd be on a losing ticket if you ever bet he hasn't previously won four straight.
He achieved it before winning the Wellington Cup with outsider Rastes.
"On the Blenheim-Nelson circuit I won four straight with Rastes and then he got beaten by a nose on the fifth and final day."
