Waikato Stud has revealed that Sacred Falls will continue his racing career during the 2014 Spring Racing Carnival.
Sacred Falls will be set for the Cox Plate during the 2014 Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival. Photo by: Steve Hart
Sacred Falls scored his second straight win in the Group 1 Doncaster Mile (1600m) at Royal Randwick on April 12 and was expected to be retired or sent to England for the Royal Ascot meeting after he flew home late to finish second behind It’s A Dundeel in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) at the same venue a week later.
Waller confirmed at the start of the week that Sacred Falls would not join Zoustar in the United Kingdom for a tilt at Royal Ascot and a Waikato Stud statement said that the son of O’Reilly would be set for the Group 1 Cox Plate (2040m) during the 2014 Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival.
“Dato Yap is a horse racing enthusiast and Waikato Stud has very much enjoyed the ride to date with Sacred Falls, so with the distinct impression that the best was still ahead, mutual agreement was quickly reached that the Chris Waller-trained triple Group One winner should race on,’ the Waikato Stud statement said.
Hong Kong-based jockey Zac Purton came to Australia to ride Sacred Falls in both the Doncaster Mile and the Queen Elizabeth Stakes and told The New Zealand Racing Desk that he was delighted to hear that the four-year-old will race on in the next 2014/2015 racing season.
Purton said that he was thrilled with the way that Sacred Falls ran home in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes and is confident that the two-time Doncaster Mile winner still has improvement in front of him.
“The way he finished the Queen Elizabeth off, after such a bad draw was incredible and it made me think his best racing days were ahead of him,” Purton said.
“I am very excited to hear he will race on and I think he can improve even further and get even better.
“To concede weight in the Doncaster and win like he did was an outstanding performance and then to back up a week later and come so close in the Queen Elizabeth is the stamp of an exceptional horse.
“He’s definitely one of the very best horses I have ridden and he’s got one of the best attitudes of any horse I have ridden and I can’t wait to renew my association with him in the future.”
Sacred Falls is currently available at 2014 Cox Plate odds of $41 in the pre nominations market at Ladbrokes Australia.
