Wonder Boy finally lived up to early expectations with a strong win at Bendigo on Saturday, ending a lengthy drought and claiming his first Stakes success in the process.

Trained by Jerome Hunter, the three-year-old secured a career highlight in the $200,000 Listed Bendigo Guineas (1400m), notching his second win since debuting with victory at Flemington last June.

Despite a gap between wins, Hunter remained confident in the gelding, a son of Cosmic Force acquired as a weanling by Graeme Gathercole.

“I’ve been happy with his whole preparation, a lot of people have gone off him, but I’ve had faith in the horse and I know he’s just going to get bigger and better as he gets older,” Hunter said.

“I was in Queensland with Barb Raider when Graeme Gathercole asked me to go down and have a look at him and we bought him as a weanling.

“So, it’s been a long time and to get him to win a Listed race, it’s fantastic.”

The $3.10 betting site favourite, Wonder Boy enjoyed a well-judged ride from Jamie Mott, who positioned him perfectly to strike, edging out Kalkallo by half a length with Rue De Royale ($4.80) a neck away in third.

“I thought if we could begin good, I had the leader inside me in barrier seven, that we could potentially slide over and come with it and it worked out perfectly,” Mott said.

“I got across really easy and he travelled great. He is a horse that hits a bit of a flat spot, but late he really got into gear and it was a good win.”

The victory came on the back of a promising second in the Group 2 Phar Lap Stakes behind Lazzura, and Hunter now has his sights set north.

“The Queensland Guineas is in three weeks’ time, so we’ll aim for that and we’ll just see where we’re at with him after that what we do but, long-term, as long as he gets his rating up, I’d like to go for the Golden Eagle.”