''I think it was just my lucky day,'' Ms Rhodes (47) said in summing up her unheralded success at the show on Saturday during her first visit to Wanaka.
However, luck was not on her side earlier that morning when, after getting up at 4.30am and setting off from Waikaia, in northern Southland, her truck got a flat tyre just half an hour from home, stalling her travel plans.
Feeling defeated, she told a man who stopped to offer assistance she was ''going to put my tail between my legs and go home''.
However, after changing her tyre and lending her a spare, the helpful stranger insisted she still go and compete.
''He was a good-looking chap, too,'' Ms Rhodes said of her roadside rescuer.
Having ''just scraped in'' for the start of the event, following the early morning delay, she and her dog Rain had a ''perfect'' first run and near-perfect final, earning her the Willis Scaife Memorial Cup.
Mr Scaife's granddaughter Sally Mackay - who presents the cup on alternate years with her sister Janet Cochrane - confirmed it was the first time since the cup's inception in 1966 that it had been won by a woman.
''It's a very special day,'' Mrs Mackay said.
Ms Rhodes has worked as a paddock shepherd at Glenaray Station, Waikaia, for nearly a year, and in the North Island before that.
''I was born a shepherd right until I was 23. Then foolishly got married and went in the freezing works for 12 years and then got back into it again.''
She only began competing on the dog trial circuit last month and had not placed, until now.
While Rain's performance had certainly helped secure the historic win, so too did the well-behaved sheep she was herding, Ms Rhodes said.
''They were just the perfect lambs ... they looked at the hurdle and they wanted to go through ... they were little angels.''
Ms Rhodes and Rain have now qualified for the South Island championships.
