Contrary to what his name might suggest, Irish Goodbye is the first direct import into the country from Brazil.

And he is here to stay and perhaps creates history along the way.

The son of Setembro Chove was unfancied on his debut last month but led his rivals on a merry chase to win by 2-3/4 lengths, returning RM103 for a win.

The four-year-old was to prove that that win was no fluke when he took out the RM80,000 Safar Gemilang Cup (1400m) at Sungai Besi today.

Irish Goodbye  picked up six points for his debut win and remained in Class 4B for today's contest which also featured three other last-start winners and two recent winners.

But punters believed in the talent of the Brazilian gelding and installed him favourite.

Guess Me set the pace and jockey Uzair Sharudin – riding Irish Goodbye foe the second time – was happy to track the pacemaker in second place. The rest of the field, headed by Red Sun, followed in a tight pack.

Irish Goodbye raced up to Guess Me making the turn into the straight and they were nicely clear of Red Sun at the top of the straight.

Irish Goodbye raced away from Guess Me at the 300m. Red Sun came charging at the new leader in the final 200m but Irish Goodbye held on to win one length. Guess Me battled on third to take third placing.

Irish Goodbye landed in trainer Lawson Moy's yards through connections in Hong Kong. Along with Irish Goodbye, there was also Always A Gentleman, a Group 1 winner in Brazil but was unplaced in two starts in Hong Kong before coming over to Malaysia.

"When I rode him (Irish Goodbye) the first time, I took him to the front and he won easily," said Uzair.

"This time, I decided to take a sit and waited until the straight to make my challenge."