Wyndspelle wins Saturday's Captain Cook Stakes.
10th Group 1 winner for Iffraaj. Wyndspelle became the 10th Group 1 winner for his sire, the Haunui Farm shuttler Iffraaj, when he won Saturday's Captain Cook Stakes (Group 1) at Trentham.
Runner up 4 times at Group 1 level previously, Wyndspelle beat Shadows Cast, a gelded son of Per Incanto, by a length and a quarter with True Enough another three quarters of a length back in third.
The Johno Benner and Hollie Wynyard-trained gelding had tuned up for Saturday's race with a fast-finishing second to the promising Rock On Wood at Awapuni last month and was installed a $5.60 second favourite behind Matamata mare Supera.He begun slowly and was settled near last against the fence for jockey Jason Waddell, however, Waddell played a waiting game before moving closer approaching the home turn.
Angled into the middle of the track, Wyndspelle produced an irresistible burst that quickly took him to the front where he comfortably held out a game Shadows Cast with Cambridge visitor True Enough making up plenty of ground to finish third ahead of Supera.
"We've all had some special days on a racecourse but this is a special horse and he deserved that," Benner said.
"It was a peach of a ride as Jason is a very very good jockey and half a mile out, I knew we were a winning chance as Jason was just sitting so quietly.
"I know this will mean a lot to Jason as he has a great association with the horse and he chose to ride him over a couple of others and he was repaid."
Wyndspelle was a NZ$75,000 2015 New Zealand Bloodstock Select Yearling Sale purchase by Phill Cataldo Bloodstock from the draft of Hallmark Stud. He has now won 4 times and been placed 16 times in 39 starts with earnings over of NZ$775,000.
He is out of the winning High Chaparral mare Western Star who is herself out of the Group 2 winner Alberton Star making her a half-sister to the stakes winners Lady Alberton and Alberton Park.
Iffraaj stands alongside Belardo at Haunui Farm and will stand the 2020 northern hemisphere breeding season at Darley's Dalham Hall Stud in Newmarket for a fee of £30,000 having stood in New Zealand this year for NZ$25,000 (plus GST).
He has 42 lots catalogued for New Zealand Bloodstock's Karaka 2020 - Book 1.
