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CROYDON sprinter Hamish Adams has described his superb win in the Men's Bendigo Thousand Final as 12 months in the making. "I wanted to set myself for a race and this one certainly stood out - it's probably been a 12-month program," the 21-year-old said in the minutes after Sunday night's victory at the Tom Flood Sports Centre. "I feel rock-hard fit right now and obviously very happy. "I have been coming here since 2014, so a good seven years. It's probably my favourite race of the year, which is why I identified this race. "The track is really nice, the crowd is great with the bikes - it's a great weekend all-round. "I was reasonably confident, even though it's been an up and down season and you can't be sure how the other guys are going to perform. I respect them all." The backmarker off 7m, Adams finished well over the top of his five rivals to win in a time of 12.497 seconds. Nicholas Antonino (8.50m) snatched second in a blanket finish, ahead of Adams' stable-mate Jake Ireland (8.5m). The pair are trained by Jake's father Todd Ireland, who won the Bendigo Thousand as a 21-year-old back in 1991. First and third placings in the Bendigo Thousand were the perfect birthday gift for Todd Ireland, who turned 50 on Sunday. It followed wins to two more of his proteges on Saturday, with Jason Bailey claiming in the open 70m and Will Oglethorpe taking the honours in the under-18 120m. "Three wins for the weekend and having two in the Gift final - first and third - you can't get much better than that," Ireland said. "Bendigo is a great race and it's got history, hopefully, we'll be here in 50 years' time. "It's one of those races our team always targets. "Hamish was coming good. It took him a while to hit his straps this season - he wasn't up and about early in the season as much as some of the other boys in the group. "So we targeted this race for him and really tapered for it the last couple of weeks to get him cherry ripe for it." Ireland, who has been coming to Bendigo as either an athlete or coach every year since the late 1980s, said the victory for Adams had brought back memories of his own success in 1991 - his first major race win. "It was a bit surreal having my son in the final and being right in contention, especially when it doesn't seem that long since I was running in the final myself," said Ireland, a Stawell Gift finalist in 1990. "Hamish is the second Bendigo winner I've trained - I trained Cam Dunbar to win here as well (in 2004). "I have a lot of history with the race and it means a lot to me. "I reckon I ran four seconds and a third and a fifth as well besides the win. Whether subconsciously, it's a race I always get myself up for and hopefully get my team up for. "Its one of the few meetings of the season we get a crowd of this size. "(Turning) 50 today, it's a very nice birthday present. You have these days occasionally. You have a lot of crappy days in this game when things don't go right, so you have to enjoy the good ones." Meanwhile, a win in Bendigo has given Adams plenty of confidence ahead of his tilt at the prestigious Stawell Gift. "I ran second in 2018 ... I was off a very big mark then, but obviously I've come back and hopefully improved," he said. "We'll see how it goes. "Of course, I'll be back here again next year and hopefully the next 40 years. "With Todd winning the race and now me, it obviously means a lot to our squad." READ MORE: Tiana Shillito goes back-to-back in Women's Bendigo Thousand Have you signed up to the Bendigo Advertiser'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 central Victoria.

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