Trainer Shane Baertschiger’s guarded optimism ahead of Nepean’s run on Saturday was well rewarded when the Group 2 winner made it a one-act affair in the $100,000 Kranji Stakes A race (1400m).

Last year's EW Barker Trophy winner was second-up after a seven-month break following a run of poor form that was at odds to his big upset win under chance rider Mohd Zaki in the 1400m feature last November.

At his comeback race in a Kranji Stakes A over 1200m on September 18, Nepean  went largely unnoticed, hence his generous quote of $116 at his second start, even if Baertschiger thought the Roman Emperor eight-year-old's eighth place to Makkem Lad was not without some merit.

Still, with the likes of Grand Koonta (at one stage the highest rated sprinter in the land), Fame Star, Kharisma, not to mention resuming Singapore Derby winner Hard Too Think, though that was a warm-up race towards other loftier and longer-distance targets, it would have taken a brave man to warm up to Nepean's chances.

A couple of pre-race omens did boost Baertschiger's confidence, though – rain and the scratching of the noted speed merchant Fame Star. That quiet bullishness just grew louder and louder as the race rolled along.

"He loves a soft track. It's been raining every day from Monday to Friday," said the Australian handler.

"And when Fame Star was scratched, I knew he'd be able to get a soft lead. Matty (Kellady) won on him three times by going to the front before, he knows him back to front, and knows how to rate him.

"You saw how the horse swished his tail when Zaki pulled the stick in the Barker. Matty just put the whip away and rode him hands and heels."

With the speed angle left to Nepean after Fame Star  came out of the picture, he easily grabbed the lead from his outside alley, but finishing first at the other end is what matters.

The win was probably crafted when Kellady threw out the anchors with his seven rivals soon falling in line, presumably just waiting to pounce the moment the leader flinches, but Nepean never got the staggers at any point.

Though dictated from the outset, the stalkers were still a live shot at the 400m, but it soon became clear they had been snookered. They were all going up on the one spot.

Try as they might, Kharisma  (Yusoff Fadzli), Savvy Command (Simon Kok Wei Hoong) and Nowyousee (John Sundradas) just could not put an indent into the margin while Kellady was hardly going flat to the boards.

The underrated Malaysian rider then proceeded to just ride hands and heels to the line, with Nepean eventually strolling in by just under two lengths from Nowyousee. Hard Too Think (Danny Beasley) presented when switched out for an outside run at the top of the straight, but quickening off cheap sectionals is not a stayer's strongest suit.

The Singapore Gold Cup hopeful still gutsily dropped onto the winner inside the last furlong, but had to settle for third place another half-length away, just nudging stablemate Kharisma out of a podium finish by a short head.

As for Grand Koonta  (Marc Lerner), who settled further back than he has done in recent runs in a bid to presumably utilise his turn of foot to better effect, much better was expected than sixth, but despite not getting an entirely clear run in the straight, he went out without a whimper.

Baertschiger would know a thing or two about a good horse inexplicably losing his way, with Nepean a classic example. Excellence from the vet department and a bit of persuasive power from his side went a long way in bringing Nepean back to the winner's box.

"After he won the Barker, he kept running more and more bad races. Some partners in the ownership wanted to retire him, but I spoke with Dr Peter Briggs (from the Singapore Turf Club veterinary department), and I convinced them to give him one last crack with surgery," said Baertschiger.

"A big thanks to Dr Briggs as it was quite a major surgery to the synovial pads of both of the horse's fetlocks. He told me there was a 50/50 chance he would return to racing.

"First-up, he needed the run, but it's only in the last 200m that his condition blew out. He only got beaten around four lengths.

"Today, I just told Matty to stack them up and rack them up. He did it easy in the end."

For a horse who had two legs on the Malaysian-bound float, and then, on an operating table, Nepean is a feelgood story of faith repaid manifold.

In the owners' bank, too, as that sixth win from 24 starts have tipped his account past the $400,000 mark for the MA Racing Stable.

It's a shame the EW Barker Trophy has been scrapped from the racing calendar this year, as Nepean would have peaked at the right time for back-to-back wins in the popular handicap feature. Baertschiger is, however, not the sort to whinge about a fait accompli, preferring to play the cards he is dealt.

"I will run him in a Class 1 race over 1200m on Gold Cup day (November 14)," he said.

As for Kellady, Baertschiger's loyal stable jockey over many years, going back to his father Don's days at Kranji, the day got even better when he went on to bag a second riding treble for the season.

After beginning his field day with Nate's Honour ($24) in the $30,000 Class 5 Division 2 race over 1400m and doubling the dose with Nepean two events later, he claimed the very next race, the $30,000 Class 5 Division 2 race over the 1200m on Polytrack with the Daniel Meagher-trained Paperback Trooper ($58).

Kellady had his first day out on June 12 when he won on two Baertschiger's, From The Navy and Kiss Your Song before trebling the tally with a dead-heat aboard a pick-up ride, the Jerome Tan-trained Anpanman, who incidentally shared the spoils with stablemate Turf Beauty for a rare trainer dead-heat at Kranji.