But he cut his teeth driving in New Zealand, learning from the best - Tony Herlihy.
"Working for Tony changed everything for me," he told the Herald.
"Just watching him drive and talking to him about it, I learned so much. And there was the bonus of having Roy Purdon there every morning too.
"For somebody like me to have two legends like them to learn from was a dream come true."
Remarkably, while Beautide has been the find of the Australian pacing season, Rattray still struggles for recognition in Sydney, where the most dominant stables already have regular drivers.
"I am training about five horses and probably only want to get to eight so I can give them as much attention as possible.
"But I'd love to get more drives. I really only drive my own horses and probably have one or two drives most weeks. Hopefully this will help change that."
Beautide is yet another success story for Woodlands Stud's champion stallion Bettors Delight, who is well on his way to becoming one of the greatest pacing stallions to ever stand in Australasia.
The 5-year-old now heads to the Victoria Cup in 12 days, where he will be joined by Saturday's brave runner-up Christen Me.
The Canterbury pacer was magnificent in second after sitting parked and hitting the lead at the top of the long Menangle straight, putting a difficult November behind him.
But while he has bounced back to his top form the connections of fellow Kiwi rep Terror To Love were left scratching their heads as he dropped out to finish last.
The three-time New Zealand Cup winner never looked comfortable on the track and while he briefly loomed up three wide he raced 10 lengths below his Addington form of just three weeks ago.
He has now failed to win in six starts at Menangle, which raises questions over whether the Interdominions there in March are the most logical long-term aim for him.
The other expensive failure in Saturday's Mile was Smoken Up.
Smoken Up led but was beaten at the top of the straight, racing well below his 1:49.9 win just seven days earlier.
Meanwhile, rejoining the Grand Circuit will be Auckland-owned pacer The Gold Ace after his win in a A$50,000 free-for-all on Saturday night.
Having his first start for new trainer Belinda McCarthy, who won six races at the meeting, The Gold Ace was brilliant beating the second stringer open class horses and could finally have found his niche in the pacing world.
Miracle Mile
*Beautide gives Tasmania just its second Miracle Mile win.
*He is trained and driven by James Rattray, who used to work in Auckland.
*Kiwi pacers Christen Me and Terror To Love could hardly have fared more differently in the great race.
*Auckland-owned The Gold Ace was also a big winner at the Menangle meeting.
