Talented reinsman Adrian Duggan was born into a harness racing family domiciled in the country township of New Norfolk and as a child he often dreamt of one day driving the winner of a New Norfolk Cup.
At Kensington Park Paceway today the 40-year-old achieved his life long dream when he partnered the Maurice Jarman-trained gelding Neonjet to an all-the-way win in the Norske Skog New Norfolk Cup over 2900 metres.
Neonjet stepped cleanly from front row of the standing start and once in front Duggan rated the gelding to perfection.
While the five-year-old was almost friendless in the betting starting at $31 as one of the rank outsiders in the field of 11 Duggan was confident the gelded son of Jereme's Jet would be competitive if he stepped cleanly from the standing start.
"All he had to do was go away well to be a real good each-way chance and that's how it panned out," Duggan said.
"He is a tough horse and he's a natural stayer so when we found the front and we got away with a couple of cheap quarters I thought he'd be right in it at the finish," he said.
It also was a big win for the North-West Coast based trainer who only has a few horses in work.
Peter Staples