The July 2011-whelped dog worked his way to the lead with 300m to go in the 545m journey and gave his rivals a galloping lesson, stretching out to win by 6 lengths.
His Balcairn co-trainer, Dave Fahey, has labelled Palucka as his brightest hope for the New Zealand Cup - even with three weeks to go until the heats on October 31.
''He's probably my best chance for the New Zealand Cup, I'd say - that's probably my next target.
''He'll might have one more race or maybe just a trial [before the heats].''
Palucka will head Fahey and his wife, Jean's, team for the group 1 middle distance feature at Addington alongside Wayleggo and Opawa Swede, who needs inside draws after drawing wide recently.
Palucka usually takes his time getting out of the boxes, so Fahey was surprised to see the dog up on the pace yesterday.
''He usually doesn't jump quite that good, so I was rapt when he jumped second,'' Fahey said.
''He's really strong as well.''
The Faheys have established a winning combination with Palucka's owner, Tim Caines, of Sydney.
''He's sent quite a few over to me lately, including [Wellington Cup winner] Pretty Good and White Air, who won the [New Zealand] Cup last year,'' Fahey said.
''They seem to go good over here - the ones he sends over - and he just sent three or four more a month ago.''
