Sacred Falls Simply The Best

The superlatives were flowing for O’Reilly’s undefeated son Sacred Falls after a stunning victory in the Gr 2 Hawke’s Bay Guineas at Hastings. The WS-bred and sold colt looked down and out after going down on his nose at the start, but he turned that around to win with ease.

“I’ve never ridden a horse like him before,” successful rider Leith Innes said. “He’s a true gentleman and a lovely horse to ride. He doesn’t do much in trackwork, but he’s all class on raceday and the best I’ve ever ridden.”

A $160,000 yearling at Karaka last year, Sacred Falls had won his previous three starts but his Guineas performance was a class apart. “He just about fell out of the gates when his back end went and then his front and I thought this isn’t going to plan,” Innes said. “We got a nice run through though and he got there early and did it pretty easily at the finish.”

Trained at Cambridge by Tony Pike and Mark Donoghue for Raffles Dancers, the three-year-old is the second foal of the winning Redoute’s Choice mare Iguazu’s Girl. She is a half-sister to WS’s Gr 3 Thoroughbred Club Stakes and Gr.1 Ascot Vale Stakes runner-up Splashing Out.

“It was a shock to the system to see him come out that way and it’s not what you want in these races,” Pike said. “Leith didn’t panic though and it was a super performance. Obviously he’s a very, very good colt and he’s got that explosive turn of foot that only good horses have and in the end he got to the front very quickly.”

Sacred Falls (NZ) will now step out in the Gr.3 James and Annie Sarten Memorial Stakes at Te Rapa on October 22 before he heads south for the Gr.1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas at Riccarton on November 10. He is now down to a $2.60 quote in the market for the southern classic.