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First emergency Vittoria Perfetta lived up to his bold Italian name by notching a “perfect victory” at his second career start on Sunday.

Gaining a late berth following Legend Rocks’ withdrawal in the $75,000 Restricted Maiden race over 1400m, the Zoustar three-year-old had to work a little to come across onto the fence, and, as a result, looked like he had capitulated when headed by favourite Lim’s Passion (Troy See) at the 300m.

But under Vlad Duric’s vigorous riding, Vittoria Perfetta ($26) regained the advantage to eventually redeem half-a-length back on Lim’s Passion. The well-backed Runminderbinderrun (Glen Boss) poked his head halfway up the straight but failed to raise another gear to run third another 1 ¾ lengths away. The winning time was 1min 23.53secs for the 1400m on the Long Course.

Though the win may on face value represent a big leap in form from his debut eighth to Winning Hobby in a similar RM race but over 1200m a month ago, the much more favourable racing circumstances on Sunday went a long way in accounting for the improvement.

On debut, he was caught hopelessly wide throughout but still made late progress at the business end.

At his third consecutive winning combination with trainer Michael Clements (they took Friday night’s last races with Quarter Back and Silent Partner), Duric sang the praises of his 18th 2019 winner, who has now given him a three-win cushion on Noh Senari at the top of the ladder.

“He’s a big raw bugger and did a lot of things wrong at the barriers at his first run. He was drawn wide and was five wide,” said the Australian jockey.

“We were more hopeful of a better run over 1400m. We were able to get a soft lead and he showed a lot of tenacity in the straight; it was a good effort all round.”

Clements said that a first experience under the belt was always going to be beneficial for a horse he also has high hopes for.

“He was looking for a bit of distance at his first run, but he still went well. He’s come on a lot from that first run, and won a nice barrier trial last week,” he said.

“He is by Zoustar and we paid a bit of money for him. The owners (Cloud Nine Stable) have been very patient with him.

“We bought him for the Guineas and he is one step closer to that now.”

The Group 1 Singapore Guineas (1600m) is the third and final Leg of the Singapore Three-Year-Old Challenge and will be run on May 25.