Star sprinter Jungle Cat has stormed to victory in the G1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes at Caulfield, his second success at the top level in 2018.
The six-year-old son of Iffraaj trained by Charlie Appleby is now a G1 winner on two continents, having come to Melbourne off his last-start win in the Al Quoz Spring on World Cup night at Meydan.
While today’s win wasn’t widely anticipated, it proved Jungle Cat to be a horse of great quality and adaptability, much in the mould of his sire.
Iffraaj is best known in the southern hemisphere as a sire of middle-distance runners, such as his G1 New Zealand Derby winner Gingernuts and his G1 Australian Derby winner Jon Snow.
He has also produced the champion European miler Ribchester, who is serving his first southern hemisphere stud season in Australia.
Jungle Cat was given a perfect ride by James Doyle, three lengths off the pace and one off the fence.
Doyle produced him with a perfectly-timed run to win by a half-head from Dollar For Dollar with a short half-head to Land Of Plenty in third place.
A half-brother to seven winners including the Group performer Texas Wildcatter and three-time winner Future Reference (Raven’s Pass), Jungle Cat is out of the Stakes-winning Forest Wildcat mare Mike’s Wildcat.
He is one of nine G1 winners for Iffraaj who is standing under the Darley banner at Haunui Farm in New Zealand at a fee of NZ$25,000 plus GST payable on a 42-day test.
