Stanley stands tall to win Cup thriller
American Wolf has outlasted Highland Bling in a photo finish to win the 2026 Sportsbet Adelaide Cup (3200m) at Morphettville on Monday.
In a two-horse race to the winning post, the four-year-old gelding edged out the Philip Stokes-trained five-year old gelding to win the 156th running of South Australia’s iconic public holiday event
The victory gave Victorian-based jockey Jett Stanley the biggest win of his career, while in the process denying Adelaide’s Lachlan Neindorf his maiden Sportsbet Adelaide Cup success.
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But Stanley didn’t know he had won until the medical team informed him of the photo finish result post-race on the Morphettville track after Stanley parted company with American Wolf just metres after the winning post.
American Wolf trainer Natalie Young, who was trackside at Morphettville, said the victory was the horse’s ‘grand final’.
The victory also ended what was a great weekend for jockey Stanley, who rode a winner at Murray Bridge on Saturday and at Stony Creek on Sunday before Monday’s Sportsbet Adelaide Cup success.
Second favourite Berkeley Square finished sixth after missing the start, while Hurry Curry, ridden by South Australian Jamie Melham, finished third.
