Eagle Rock crowned the encouraging start he has made to his career with a convincing breakthrough victory at Te Rapa.
The son of Westbury Stud stallion El Roca was sent out favourite on Saturday and duly delivered on the promise to score over 1600 metres at his third appearance.
Eagle Rock is prepared at Cambridge by breeder Kylie Little, who also races the three-year-old with Gene Jacobson.
The gelding had finished runner-up at Pukekohe in his April debut and the following month ventured south to also finish second at Wanganui.
With the side winkers applied at the weekend, he purred along in third spot on the fence for rider Bridget Grylls, who angled off the rail before the turn.
They were in front early in the run home and the gallant bay held a strong gallop to the post.
“That was pretty cool. He deserved to pick up a maiden win after running so well for second in both of his first two starts,” Little said.
“It’s good to see him improving, putting things together and getting more professional.”
While Sea Eagle has yet to run beyond a mile, Little believes he will appreciate more ground in the future.
“I definitely think he’s going to go a lot further than 1600 metres. He’s closely related to Aljay, who won a New Zealand Cup,” she said.
“Even though this was only a maiden win, I might be pretty tempted to put in a New Zealand Cup nomination with him when the spring rolls around.
“We’ll see how he comes through this run before deciding what we do next and how much further into the winter we go with him.
“Either way, I think he’ll have at least a week in the paddock for now.”
Eagle Rock is a son of the Don Eduardo mare Sea Eagle, who Little trained to win on six occasions, including two editions of the time-honoured Parliamentary Handicap and finished fourth in the G3 Manawatu Breeders’ Stakes.
Sea Eagle is out of a half-sister to the G3 Winter Cup winner Don’t Ya Lovett and to the dam of the G3 New Zealand Cup and Listed Spring Classic winner Aljay.