It has been a long time in the making but grand galloper Prise De Fer finally claimed his first elite level title when he took out the Group 1 Captain Cook Stakes (1600m) at Trentham yesterday.
In a distinguished career that is littered with black-type wins, the seven-year-old son of Savabeel shed the bridesmaid tag he had been saddled with after five placings at Group 1 level, including a runner-up finish in this race last year, to win a Group 1 race for the first time.
An impressive last-start win in the Group 3 Eagle Stakes (1600m) at Pukekohe saw the Mark Walker-trained runner installed at $3.60 behind Aegon ($1.90), with the pair fighting out an exciting finish.
Rider Michael McNab on Prise De Fer tracked expat Kiwi jockey Mick Dee on Aegon throughout as they both sat back before starting their runs at the 600m.
Aegon hit the front at the 200m but shortly after was joined by Prise De Fer, who found a little more in the last few strides to down the favourite, with outsider Chase running the race of his life to take third ahead of pacemaker Deerfield.