He hasn't been long in Kody Nestor's care, but four-year-old gelding Cardiff has already put in a big performance for the Dubbo trainer.
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Racing in the Sprint Series Heat 3 in Canterbury on Friday, Cardiff's tenacity shone through when he crossed the line a full length ahead of Jason Coyle's Lunar Tramp.
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Speaking with Sky Thoroughbred Racing after the win, Nestor was full of praise for his fast developing charge.
"If you go back through his form he's been around behind some pretty handy horses," Nestor said.
While the wet track conditions gave the stable pause, there was no sign of slipping up in Cardiff's ride, putting in a complete performance down the 1100m distance and booking a likely appearance in the Sprint Series' next leg.
"It was a bit of a query today, what with the wet track and all, but he's done a good job today and there's still a bit of improvement left in him," Nestor said.
"A bit of time off and most probably the environment that he's in at the moment, there's no doubt he's gone around a lot better races before than when I got him."
Jockey James Innes Jnr was in the saddle for the disciplined performance, and earned his fair share of the congratulations as well.
"He sort of dropped a peg or two today, but he's in a good frame of mind and Jimmy rode him a treat," Nestor said.
Cardiff is one of the best and brightest of a few horses that Nestor's procured while shopping around online and the formerly Gerald Ryan trained product is one of Nestor's more highly touted recruits.
But the bulk of the celebrations will be in Dubbo, where some of Cardiff's connections watched the race play out from their local.
"They're only battlers, they get a big thrill to get to come down here and win a bit of prize money off of him," Nestor said.
"A few of them come down here and there's a few home at the pub, no doubt Dubbo'll be rocking tonight. I think they went to the Pastoral."
While Nestor hasn't nailed down exactly what Cardiff's future will be, floating around the idea of bringing the contender to the Country Championships as well as future trips to Sydney, one idea presents itself after the big win on Friday.
"Probably back here for the final in a few weeks," Nestor said.
Nestor next races in Dubbo on Monday, with five acceptances set to represent.
