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 between them. Prise De Fer took the lead inside the last 200m and pulled clear to win by three-quarters 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 certainly getting through the grades really nicely."
Although previously among the nominations for next weekend's Group 1 Herbie Dyke Stakes (2000m) at Te Rapa, Richards is now pointing Prise De Fer towards the Group 1 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 2000m horse at the moment, although he could probably do it. I think a mile is a better trip for him."
The Haunui Farm WFA Classic will be the second start at Group 1 level for Prise De Fer, who was a close eighth behind Crown Prosecutor in last year's Group 1 New Zealand Derby (2400m) at Ellerslie.
Meanwhile, Richards was also pleased with the performance of the former Karaka Million 3YO Classic (1600m) and Group 2 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 highly talented gelding has now won six of his 12 starts and more than $190,000 in stakes for the Te Akau En Garde Syndicate.
- NZ Racing Desk
