Group 1 winner Sacred Falls is on track to return to the races in the Group 1 2014 Canterbury Stakes (1300m) at Royal Randwick on March 15 after winning a barrier trial in impressive fashion at Rosehill Gardens this morning.
Sacred Falls will have the opportunity to record his second Group 1 victory in Australia in the Canterbury Stakes at Royal Randwick next weekend. Photo by: Steve Hart
Sacred Falls was kept under a heavy hold by jockey Tommy Berry throughout the trial over 1030 metres, but was still far too strong for the rest of the field and finished well to score a comfortable win.
Berry partnered Sacred Falls when he scored his maiden Australian race win in the Group 1 Doncaster Mile (1600m) during the 2013 Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival and the leading hoop is confident that the son of O’Reilly will perform well when he returns to the races in the Canterbury Classic next Saturday.
“They only went quite slow, he wanted to get going but he feels good, I think he will sprint pretty well fresh,” Berry said.
“He had the blinkers on today, they make a big difference to him, he will be spot on for the Canterbury Stakes first-up.”
Sacred Falls has not been seen at the races since he finished his luckless 2013 Spring Racing Carnival campaign with a fifth place finish in the Group 1 Emirates Stakes (1600m) at Flemington on November 9.
Another Waller-trained galloper set to return to the races in the Canterbury Classic is veteran gelding My Kingdom Of Fife who has not been seen at the races since he took out the 2011 edition of the Group 3 Craven Plate (2000m).
Tendon issues have kept My Kingdom Of Fife away from the track for almost three years, but Waller is hopeful that the son of Kingmambo can return to his best form and has included him in the entries for both the Group 1 Doncaster Mile (1600m) and Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) that will be run at Royal Randwick during The Championships.
My Kingdom Of Fife was given a quiet trial behind Sacred Falls this morning and jockey Nash Rawiller was happy with the feel he was given by the nine-year-old.
Waller is chasing his first win in the Canterbury Classic after finishing third with Metal Bender in the 2012 edition of the race.
