Puccini won well under Michael Walker. The plan was to take the wide barrier out of play by going forward early and taking the lead heading into the back straight.
Despite being awkward around that first bend, Puccini swept to the front easily enough and relaxed.
He had an easy run, evidenced by the fact his winning time of 2:02.93 was 2.6 seconds slower than it took Filante Etoile to win the following race.
Colonel Carrera was good running second, and third- and fourth-placed Weregoingtogetcha and Glorious Lad starred, particularly the latter.
Mark Du Plessis couldn't get Glorious Lad a comfortable position from a wide gate, but took the surprise decision to take off very wide before the 800m, racing around the field to be challenging on the home bend.
Given the work he did, Glorious Lad fought bravely to finish fourth, a short neck from third.
Trainer Shaune Ritchie did not want to say too much about the ride, but he wasn't happy. "Let's just say it wasn't pretty. It will be a more conservative ride next time."
Trainer Jason Bridgman was at a loss to explain the effort of former Derby favourite Chambord, who beat two home.
"He was vetted immediately after the race which found nothing amiss.
"He did cough a couple of times and was scoped at the course, but that showed up nothing.
"He simply went too bad to be true. He's in fine shape today so we're just going to have to go through the health side of things like take a blood off him in the morning. I guess it is possible that he's one of the horses that simply cannot give their best at Te Rapa."
Derby market: $6 Rising Romance, $8 Puccini, Glorious Lad, Weregoingtogetcha; $10 Chambord, Aspen; $18 El Doute, Spellbinder; $21 Sacred Park, Percy.
