Leading Tasmanian trainer Scott Brunton reckons Count Da Vinci looked like more like a coathanger than a racehorse when he first arrived in the Apple Isle.
Count Da Vinci had won just one of 19 starts in his former New Zealand homeland and Brunton wondered whether he had been given a dud to train.
What was also worrying him was the appearance of the six-year-old gelding which had been ill and lost 40kg.
Fast forward a year and the tough as old boots marvel has won seven Australian races for Brunton, including the $200,000 Hobart Cup in February.
Count Da Vinci has now made the trip across Bass Strait, running third behind Theanswermyfriend in the Listed Tononan Stakes (1400m) at Flemington on September 16.
He will line up in Sunday's Ladbrokes Up For The Challenge Handicap (1700m) at Caulfield as he searches for his first win on the mainland.
Tasmanian jockey David Pires, who won the Hobart Cup on the gelding but was injured when he last ran, will get back on board.
Brunton can't help but reflect on how far his much-loved gelding has come.
"He looked like a coathanger when I got him – I must admit I really questioned the purchase," Brunton said.
"The owner was telling me the horse had good enough form, but just looking at the horse I just didn't believe him.
"It took me a while to get him to race but when he did he won his first five starts for me. You could have knocked me over with a feather."
Brunton says Count Da Vinci will run well at Caulfield on Sunday but says his main aim is the $300,000 Cranbourne Cup (2025m) on October 15.
"He has come through his first-up run well and I expect him to perform well at Caulfield," Brunton says.
"But his main target is the Cranbourne Cup. I think that is a race that could really suit him as he will get up and rolling around that track and be hard to run down."
Brunton also has Hellova Street running in the Le Pine Funerals Handicap (1100m) at Caulfield on Sunday.
The seven-year-old gelding has won 13 from 29 starts, including a win at Flemington in March, but Brunton thinks he will have his work cut out in a hot field on Sunday.
"It looks like (Robert Smerdon sprinter) Ability is going to run in that race, and I really think that horse could be the next big thing in Australian racing," Brunton said.
