Vauban won the Sky High Stakes at Rosehill in Australia on Saturday on his first start since the Melbourne Cup when trained by Willie Mullins.
Vauban changed hands for a fee reported to be in excess of £1million and is now trained by Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott but it hasn't been plain sailing for his new handlers.
Bott told racenet.com.au: "He is a talent and hopefully we are able to unlock it this campaign.
"He's got a few little quirks there that we are going work through and I think he is going to continue to adapt. He is an older horse now so he is a bit set in his ways also so we don't want to change too much because he obviously has plenty of talent there.
"That was a big win, to come off a relatively slow tempo from back there and maybe the track suited him today. I thought the 2000m [10 furlongs] he might have been a bit vulnerable but that sets him to his main targets next start."
Vauban was held-up last of the six runners by jockey Tim Clark but finished with a rattle to run down Arapaho and the odds-on favourite Lindermann in the shadow of the post.
Clark revealed that the team at home had been doing plenty of week with Vauban, saying: "We've been working behind the scenes to keep him as calm as possible. Although we didn't see him quite execute that in the yard, that's probably just him a little bit, we've got to get used to that.
"In the run he relaxes really well, goes to sleep. You can put him anywhere. That's probably the good thing, he uses a fair bit of energy in the yard but in the run he conserves a lot of energy.
"For him to do what he just did, what a remarkable win and a fantastic training effort by Gai and Adrian."
Vauban may now head for the Tancred Stakes later this month.
More from Sporting Life
- Racecards
- Fast results
- Full results and free video replays
- Horse racing news
- Horse racing tips
- Free bets
- Horse racing features
- Download our free iOS and Android app
- Football and other sports tips
- Podcasts and video content
Safer gambling
· We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
· If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
· Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.
