Retired Adelaide taxi driver John Croucher has upstaged Victoria's best summer stayers with discarded Sydney galloper Atlantic Air in the Listed Bagot Handicap at Flemington.Croucher, who has trained horses for 28 years and recently gave away driving taxis after 25 years, celebrated his most important win courtesy of a frontrunning ride from Dan Nikolic on the Air De France six-year-old."This is fantastic," Croucher said."We almost booked two planes out coming over here as there are two football

Retired Adelaide taxi driver John Croucher has upstaged Victoria's best summer stayers with discarded Sydney galloper Atlantic Air in the Listed Bagot Handicap at Flemington.

Croucher, who has trained horses for 28 years and recently gave away driving taxis after 25 years, celebrated his most important win courtesy of a frontrunning ride from Dan Nikolic on the Air De France six-year-old.

"This is fantastic," Croucher said.

"We almost booked two planes out coming over here as there are two football clubs in the syndicate, so you can imagine how much support the horse had today."

Formerly trained by Kevin Moses, Atlantic Air was bought for $8,500 at a Sydney sale last August.

On Friday, he was having his eighth start for his new owners and made it three wins in a row after victories at Morphettville on November 28 and December 12.

Croucher said he had found by riding Atlantic Air himself in trackwork that the way to get the best out of the horse was to let him have his own way as much as possible.

"He can be a bit cantankerous, but if you let him have his own way, he is happy horse," Croucher said.

He said that the gelding has gears and that when Family Bliss pressured him through the 2800m race it only spurred him on.

"He half-cocks his ear and listens to something coming up behind him and then he digs in," Croucher said.

Nikolic said he let Atlantic Air make the pace and his confidence grew as the race progressed.

"He was nice and relaxed and from the mile (1600m) to the 1200 metres he had his ears pricked and just floated," Nikolic said.

"Inside the 1000 metres we started to pick up the tempo and he was very solid all the way to the line."

Croucher has four to six horses in work and is now daring to dream that Atlantic Air could be a genuine chance in the Adelaide Cup in March.

"We will make a rushed trip home tonight, give him a little break and then we might have a crack at the Cup," Croucher said.

A half-brother to 2008 Sydney Cup winner No Wine No Song, Atlantic Air nearly doubled his earnings with the $90,000 first prize for the Bagot, which took his total prizemoney to just over $200,000.