The six-year-old, with Tom Ryan in the saddle, edged out a fast-finishing Hierarchal by a head on the post with the rest of the field 10 lengths back in George Taylor Memorial Maiden Hurdle.

Early in the race So Belafonte jumped out to a large lead with Arkamun, who would end up finishing in seventh, before the latter fell off in the final stages of the race.

Then it was Hierarchal who presented as a challenger down the straight before So Belafonte found one last kick to register his name as the first winner of the 2020 Carnival.

READ MORE:

O'Sullivan said it was nice to return to Warrnambool and collect a win at the famous jumps carnival.

"It was extremely tough," he said. "I said to Taylor during the race, 'I hope he's fit'.

"When he hit that one up the back I thought geez that's got to be it. Credit to him he was very tough.

"I reckon that it was one of those races that if you were out in Warrnambool tonight and you saw those jockeys you'd be asking what the hell were you doing?"

O'Sullivan owns the promising gelding, who was the bookmakers' favourite for the maiden hurdle before drifting just before the jump, and trains him out of Ballarat.

"He's a terribly well bred horse through David Peacock who I've had a few horses for," he said.

"He was retired and said 'take this bloke he might make a jumper.' A few of the other guys stayed in for a while. I finished up with him myself now. It was a pretty good result."

Have you signed up to The Standard's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in the south-west.