Craig Phelan has a healthy opinion of Notabadcraftsman and the three-year-old showed exactly why with a debut victory at Tauranga on Wednesday.

“He could be a bit special,” the Cambridge trainer said. “He’ll go over more ground and who knows, he could be a Derby horse.”

Notabadcraftsman was ridden by Jason Waddell, who was also aboard the gelding when second in a recent trial, and they won the STE Industrial Electrical 1200 in dominant fashion.