Veandercross was a brown, rangy gelding bred by Bill Luey at Lower Hutt not far from the Trentham Racecourse.
Given the immense promise he had shown in New Zealand, it was decided to send Veandercross to Australia for the autumn racing carnival in Sydney.
On his Australian debut, he put in one of his "unlucky" closing efforts in defeat in the Gosford Guineas over 1,600 metres.
He would show his true ability at his next start in the Canterbury Guineas over 1,900 metres, where his opponents included the best three-year-old in Australia, Naturalism.
Veandercross started as the favourite horse, and again dropped out to last and ran on strongly, but he encountered interference in the straight, and Naturalism was able to hang on to score a narrow victory.
He reversed that result in his next race, easily winning the Kelt Capital Stakes (G3) at Hastings, defeating Conan on the line.
In one of the most controversial rides in Australian racing history, champion jockey Shane Dye went extremely wide on the home turn to avoid the slow, muddy ground on the inside.
[1] At his next start, Veandercross won the G1 LKS Mackinnon Stakes at Flemington, overcoming interference to win emphatically.
So Veandercross finished his campaign with the frustrating record of having run second in both the major Cups races.
In the meantime, Naturalism had franked their three-year-old form internationally by running second in the Japan Cup in the spring.
In the Ranvet Stakes, Veandercross was clearly superior, winning by over a length and confirming his position as the best racehorse in Australasia.
He then crossed the Tasman Sea, opening with another fast finish for fourth behind Durbridge in the George Main Stakes at Randwick.