It took 476 days and Adrian Bott was pleased to see former import Newfoundland find the winning post first in the Listed Australia Day Cup at Warwick Farm, albeit narrowly.
The son of Japanese sire Deep Impact made enough of an impression during his short career in Ireland to see the likes of Lloyd and Nick Williams bringing him to Australia on a Cups path and while they may not have pulled off winning the Adelaide Cup last year when finishing second, this victory sets the seven-year-old up to try again in March.
This second-up outing followed a fifth placing at Randwick over 2000m on December 27.
“He’s been a very honest horse for us and connections, and it is great to see him winning again,” Bott said.
“His first-up run was short of his best and that was a month ago. He seems to do well with his races spaced.
“There’s not too much of him condition-wise but he seems to appreciate that and once he can get over a bit of ground, he needs the right races and the right conditions so we’re picking our mark and today looked to be a lovely target for him.
“The Adelaide Cup has been the long term plan for him and he ran very well in it last year and was even a tough unlucky. He seems to have matured a bit and improved this time around.”
While race favourite Future History ($2.60) led but faded in the home straight, Newfoundland ($4.20) – ridden by Tim Clark – won by a nose margin over Age Of Sail ($10) with Elliptical ($6) 1¼-lengths away in third.
The Group 2 Adelaide Cup (3200m) takes place at Morphettville on March 9.
