The week after Japanese raider Admire Rakti took out the Caulfield Cup, Adelaide benefitted from a bold ride from international rider Ryan Moore to beat favourite Fawkner and New Zealand mare Silent Achiever.
Adelaide, a three-year-old born to Northern Hemisphere time, has been touring the world, only emerging from quarantine hours before the race.
He had to carry more weight than other three-year-olds under the weight-for-age conditions.
But he still sustained a run from the 1000m to narrowly beat Fawkner, in a time just 0.2sec outside the race record.
Trained by leading European mentor Aidan O'Brien, it was Adelaide's fourth win from just eight career starts.
"He's a very good horse ... I got on to the back of Fawkner and he brought me in. He's done it the hard way. Things were against him, and he got the job done," Moore said.
Fawkner stumbled at the start but still fought on well, and may be now aimed at the Melbourne Cup.
Sentimental favourite The Cleaner led the field into the straight, but faded to finish out of the placings.