It was a case of third time lucky in the LR Wellesley Stakes (1000m) for Keith and Brendon Hawtin on Saturday.

Cryptic (3f Sakhee’s Secret – Oakwood by Spartacus) broke through for the Te Awamutu trainers after previous placings with Elle Tresor (2009) and Lady Chapel (2010).  “It’s great to get this one,” Brendon Hawtin said at Trentham.  “We were fairly confident and the only question mark was the heavy track – although her mother was a swimmer and her work all week had been super.”

Cryptic is a homebred for The Oaks Stud and is by resident stallion Sakhee’s Secret.  She hit the line hard to score by three-quarters of a length from Jackofall (Mastercraftsman) and Don’t Change (Thewayyouare).

The Hawtins will send Cryptic for a break in readiness for the Matamata Breeders’ Stakes in February.  She is the first foal of Oakwood who was a Listed runner-up in the Ryder Stakes and Castletown Stakes.  The mare has a yearling filly by Bachelor Duke.

Sakhee’s Secret shuttles to The Oaks Stud from Whitsbury Manor Stud in England.  He was a Group 1 winner of the July Cup at Newmarket and was Europe’s champion first-season sire for winners in 2012.