It's not always the case, however, and last year's hero, Prince of Penzance, on Saturday gave every indication on his return to the racecourse that he could take high order again when the great race is contested in spring.

The 100/1 history-making Cup winner was reunited with the Flemington heroine, Michelle Payne, who became the first woman to win the race last year, when the two cantered to the post at Morphettville for the RA Lee Stakes on Goodwood Day, the highlight of the Adelaide autumn carnival.

Few expected the son of Pentire to play much of a role in such a race, a set weights and penalties group 3 event over an unsuitable 1600 metres, where Prince of Penzance was set to concede weight all round, including to the promising young stayer Alpine Eagle.

He was also up against three other gallopers from the Darren Weir stable: Atlantis Dream, Tall Ship and Tonopah.

In the end it was Tonopah, partnered by Dean Yendall, who proved the best on the day, winning at Morphettville for the second time in three weeks in a slowly run race, the tempo of which certainly would not have suited the Cup winner.

But the story of the race was the tremendous performance posted by Prince of Penzance, who stormed home down the outside to run second, closing the gap with every stride.

In the end, Tonopah had a half length or so to spare on the line but, as Weir said later, "he wouldn't have wanted the race to go another 50 metres".

Weir was delighted to have saddled yet another winner – his second of the afternoon at that point – but even more excited by the run of his Cup winner, whose triumph at Flemington last year some were inclined to regard as a bit of a fluke.

"It was terrific, wasn't it," said Weir. "With the slow tempo, I said to Michelle, don't be getting back too far because we thought it was going to be slow. He didn't have much cover for the whole race, but he still kept coming ... that was the plan to keep him out of trouble and make sure he had a good gallop.

"He ran through the line terrific. He will probably have a good break now, a couple of weeks, him and Tall Ship will go off to a water walker somewhere and have a couple of weeks of rest and relaxation with a bit of water walking of a morning before they start their spring campaigns."

Weir will resist the temptation to strike again in the short term, preferring instead to concentrate on the riches on offer in the spring.

"It will be just a little break. We won't turn him out for long. It was just the thought that it was going to be too long from one spring to the next [without a run], so the plan was to give him a good break after his Cup win, bring him back in, give him a run and then an easy couple of weeks, and start again. I was not at all surprised. He has been going great."

Payne was equally delighted.

"It was a huge run, he even exceeded my expectations to the line.

"He didn't begin brilliantly from the barriers, which he can do, and I gave him a bit of a squeeze, but I didn't want to undo all the hard work in teaching him to settle by pushing forward.

"I thought the speed was going to be slow but I didn't want to fire him up. I was hoping the race would sort itself out and slide in three wide with cover but it didn't eventuate.

"He travelled beautifully where he was and just held him together around the corner and he was really strong through the line. I can't wait for another spring carnival."

Payne was not surprised by such a strong showing, insisting the horse would improve now as he hit full maturity.

"He always showed me he would be so competitive in the Melbourne Cup. I have always had great faith in his ability and there's no doubt he's not getting any worse.

"If anything, he's even getting better, so, who knows. He's a lot more mature so he's more settled in himself, more responsive, so that's only going to be to his advantage.

"He's definitely strengthened up after Darren gave him a good break after the Melbourne Cup. Now, hopefully, he will have another good crack at the spring."