Carrying the Nicconi colours, Columbus ($6) finished full of running to reel in the favourite Liveandletdie ($1.80 fav) to win by a length.

A superbly bred son of Redoute’s Choice, Columbus will be sent back to Lindsay Park for a let up prior to his immediate future which is looking very bright.

Trained by master horseman David Hayes, Columbus has always shown connections plenty of ability and he was kept safe in markets for his debut by bookmakers.

“He’s got a real stallion’s pedigree,” stable foreman Tom Dabernig said. “And he did that easily.”

“Today he came off the pace and finished very strongly – it was excellent,” Dabernig added.

“He’s a very laid back sort of colt and I’m sure he will take great benefit from that.”

“As you could see he’s still quite big and burly – so there’s probably better things to come.”

“We’ll probably sit him aside now – send him back to Lindsay Park and have a little VIP freshen up and be back for the classic races over the spring.”

Dabernig said Columbus had always shown good ability – but Hayes and the camp had waited until now to debut the likely prospect.

“We went through a bit of maturity – a bit of shin soreness and we didn’t want to rush him.”

“But you’ll see the best of him as a three-year-old.”

Owners Peter Devitt and Les Gordon fell in love with Columbus at the 2008 Magic Millions National Weanling Sale and they secured him for $630,000.

He was then offered at last year’s Gold Coast Yearling Sale but was retained by connections after reaching a $1.2 million bid.

One of the highlight members of the dispersal of weanlings from Swettenham Stud, Columbus is from the former top racemare Kapchat.

A winner at Group One level, Kapchat has since made her mark at stud by producing no fewer than five stakes performers headlined by Magic Millions Adelaide 2YO Classic winning sire Kaphero.