High praise for Prise De Fer at Taranaki

Exciting up-and-comer Prise De Fer extended his winning sequence to five with another supreme performance in Saturday’s Group III Powerworx Taranaki Cup (1800m).

Not far away in elite threeyear-old company last season, the son of Savabeel has gone to a new level since turning four. He has been unbeaten since the beginning of October, when he won in Rating 72 grade at Te Teko.

Prise De Fer progressed to stakes class on New Year’s Day with a big win in the Group II Rich Hill Mile (1600m) at Ellerslie, and Saturday’s $80,000 feature was more of the same.

Ridden by Opie Bosson, Prise De Fer settled in the second half of the field as Jessiegee worked forward out wide to take the lead leaving the straight on the first occasion.

Bosson bided his time until the home turn, when he let his mount rip. Prise De Fer quickly bounded up alongside Jessiegee and Guillada, who looked set to fight out the finish. Prise De Fer took the lead inside the last 200 metres and pulled clear to win by threequarters of a length.

‘‘He’s a promising horse,’’ trainer Jamie Richards said. ‘‘It takes a fairly good animal to put five together, and he’s getting through the grades nicely.’’

While he was previously among the nominations for next weekend’s Group I Herbie Dyke Stakes (2000m) at Te Rapa, Richards is now pointing Prise De Fer towards the Group I Haunui Farm WFA Classic (1600m) at Otaki on February 22.

‘‘He’ll probably drop back to the mile at Otaki, which looks like a nice race for him,’’ the premiership-leading trainer said.

‘‘I’m not sure that he’s a 2000-metre horse at the moment, although he could probably do it. I think a mile is a better trip for him at the moment.’’

The Haunui Farm WFA Classic will be the second start at Group One level for Prise De Fer, who was a close eighth behind Crown Prosecutor in last year’s New Zealand Derby (2400m) at Ellerslie.

Richards was also pleased with the performance of the former Karaka Million 3YO Classic (1600m) and Group II Wellington Guineas (1600m) winner Scott Base, who worked home well for a close fourth behind Prise De Fer, Jessiegee and Guillada.

‘‘He ran really well,’’ Richards said. ‘‘He’s a ‘one day at a time’ type of horse, but he’s going well at the moment without quite getting a win. I’m not entirely sure what to do with him next, but we’ll just play around with him and see where we end up.’’

Prise De Fer was bought for $100,000 at the 2017 Premier Yearling Sale at Karaka by Te Akau Racing principal David Ellis. The talented gelding has won six of his 12 starts and more than $190,000.