Richard Cully wasn't on track to witness Excelleration win the Group 2 Adelaide Cup (3200m), but for those who were, the race did not disappoint.
Fresh off a win in the Group 3 Launceston Cup (2400m), the sparingly raced seven-year-old was again well supported in betting to start a $4.40 second-elect with Harry Coffey aboard at Morphettville.
And the market got it right with Excelleration denying Jamie Kah aboard the favourite The Map ($3.80) by a short half-head, with Skelm ($31) in third.
The drama started on the way to the gates as topweight and $8 chance Amade got loose and had to be vetted.
After Amade missed the start, Zac Spain was sneaking ground along the inside, ahead of Excelleration, when his irons snapped.
Coffey, who was following Spain, was full of praise for his fellow rider as he managed to extricate off the fence and run on into fourth, with Amade's trainer Phillip Stokes suggesting the horse should've won by five lengths.
Excelleration was purchased for just $6000 in the 2018 Adelaide yearling sale and has now won over $600,000 in prize money, with the owners daring to dream of a start in the Melbourne Cup in November, with Coffey thrilled to be a part of the gelding's past two wins.
"They were keen to give me a go, the owners and Richie (Cully), just being down in the weights and my ability to ride light at the drop of a hat and my success that I've had in Tasmania, they gave me a go and luckily enough I went down," Coffey said.
"He's a classy horse and Richie's a brilliant trainer, he knows what he's doing so we were a little bit unsure whether we were going to come to Adelaide just with the two weeks between runs but as you've seen, it was the right idea."
