The Annabel Neasham-trained Fawkner Park landed a huge betting plunge when scoring an arrogant win in the $200,000 Albury Gold Cup, (2000m) on Friday.
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After opening up as a $2.60-chance on Friday morning, constant support on cup day saw his odds shorten into $1.80 when they jumped.
Ridden by Tyler Schiller, Fawkner Park settled near the tail of the field of nine runners which was the equal smallest field since 2015.
Schiller bided his time at the rear of the field with longshot Testing The Cugat setting a solid tempo in the lead.
Fawkner Park was still sixth at the 400m mark but quickly gathered in the leaders and exploded away over the final furlong to demolish his rivals by more than three lengths.
Stablemate Regal Lion ($18) battled on well to hand the Neasham stable the quinella in its first time targeting Albury Racing Club's premier race.
Danish Fortune ($20) who made the trip from Gawler for trainer Darren McLeod finished third after running fifth in the race last year.
The emphatic victory handed Schiller his second Albury Gold Cup after winning the feature race two years ago aboard the Mark Newnham-trained Harmony Rose.
Schiller was hoping winning his second Albury Gold Cup could prove to be a good omen when he partners the Neasham-trained Lady Laguana in the $1-million Group 1 George Ryder Stakes at Rosehill on Saturday.
"I always thought Fawkner Park had better form than his rivals today after his last couple of preparations," Schiller said.
"He has always had plenty of talent and Annabel said this morning that this will be just a warm up for tomorrow with Lady Laguna.
"So it was good to get the win on the board.
"I was probably wanting to be a bit closer but I wasn't worried where I was, as long as I had the clear racing room and he was too strong late.
"The good track helped him and coming back to the NSW way of going and he seemed to be really tractable today and back to his best and hopefully he can keep going on with it.
"I love coming back to the SDRA area when I can, especially Albury and Wagga for their cup meetings every year.
"So it was great to get the win again."
It was Fawkner Park's third run after a 12-week let-up after running fourth at Flemington earlier this month.
The was a local connection to the cup victory with Rylie Loy making the trek to Albury with Neasham's two runners with Vaguer also winning the $40,000 Adrian Ledger Memorial, (2400m).
Loy is the son of former local jockey and trainer Norm.
"Annabel puts in a lot of hard work and it's fantastic to be able to come home and represent her stable," Loy said.
"At the end of the day it comes down to the horses and if they can perform on the day.
"They certainly did that and it was a fantastic ride by Tyler.
"Both horses (Regal Lion) ran really well and it's satisfying to get the quinella.
"It was a fantastic day.
"Fawkner Park looks to be back to his best form so we will see how he goes for the rest of his preparation."
Local runners in the Kym Davison-trained Overrun ($41), Sylvia Thompson-trained Brungle Creek ($51) and the Heath Maclean-trained Testing The Cugat ($91) all went around at huge odds.
But there was no fairytale finish with the trio filling the last three placings.
