Mehzebeen completed a major staying double at Riccarton in outstanding style with a commanding victory in the G3 New Zealand Cup.

The five-year-old’s southern exploits also further emphasized what a source of high-quality distance performers our resident sire Almanzor continues to produce.

The Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson-trained Mehzebeen had been a dominant frontrunning winner on the first day of the Listed Metropolitan Trophy and she backed up waltz home in the Cup.

“It was a great ride by Craig (Grylls) to get one out and one back, she went to sleep and was strong through the line,” Bergerson said.

This is a massive thrill, it’s one of the iconic races in New Zealand racing, so it means a lot to have our names on the trophy.

“Thanks to all of our team, both at Matamata and down here. The start of her prep didn’t quite go to plan, but she’s just improved and improved.

“That win last week gave us the confidence to press on. She’s absolutely thrived and bounced through the run on the first day and then she came out and was really strong through the line.

“There are plenty of nice Cup races coming up, both here and in Australia.”

Mehzebeen lobbed along in fourth spot away from the fence before making her run wide out near the turn under jockey Craig Grylls.

The mare strode to the front and was far too strong in the run to the line to have three lengths on her nearest rival at the post.

“The plan was to get a bit of cover, and we managed to do that quite quickly,” Grylls said.

“She just travelled so well throughout. Coming up to the turn I thought that all she would have to do to get them all off the bridle would be to just quicken up a little bit, and she did that. She won easily in the end.”

The Pencarrow Stud-bred Mehzebeen has now five races and also finished runner-up in the G1 New Zealand Oaks during her classic season.

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Our Magic Millions and New Zealand Bloodstock yearlings have started their sales preparation and our yearling team are working hard as they continue the education of our class of 2025.

El Castello crowned his unbeaten start to his three-year-old season with a sublime victory in the G1 Spring Champion Stakes.The Cambridge Stud-bred three-year-old posted a resuming maiden success last month before a midway win and then stepped up to black type company to land top honours in the G3 Gloaming Stakes.The son of Castelvecchio had no trouble bridging the gap to the highest level in the 2000 metre age group feature at Randwick in the hands of regular rider Josh Parr.“He’s just a very good horse and the preparation went perfectly, everything worked out and I still think he improves again,” trainer Anthony Cummings said.El Castello was quickly into stride to lope along near the pace and held a strong gallop to the post after striking the front 250 metres from home.“He switched off in the middle stages and he’s always up for the challenge,” said Cummings, who is now considering a tilt at the G1 VRC Derby.“We’ve got to get him home and make sure that he’s okay and tick a fair few boxes before we do that, but that is the plan.” The Randwick horseman purchased El Castello out of our draft at last year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale for A$220,000 with his dam the Fastnet Rock mare Word Games.She is a half-sister to Fiveandahalfstar, who Cummings prepared to claim top-flight titles in the BMW Stakes and the VRC Derby and also trained his sire Hotel Grand to win the Spring Champion and the G1 Randwick Guineas.Word Games produced a half-sister by Almanzor to El Castello last season and recently produced another filly by our son of Wootton Bassett before visiting Chaldean.