Surely Sacred claims Guineas
Lightly-raced three-year-old Surely Sacred showed he will be awfully hard to beat in the group one Vodafone New Zealand Derby (2400m) in a fortnight when he scored handsomely in the group two Schweppes Avondale Guineas (2100m) at Ellerslie yesterday.
Spruiked as a Derby prospect after winning the group two Auckland Guineas (1600m) on New Year’s Day, when having just his third career start, the Rock ‘n’ Pop gelding followed that up with a tidy effort for fifth in the Karaka Million 3YO Classic (1600m) late last month.
That effort saw him installed as second favourite for yesterday’s traditional Derby lead-up, where he didn’t let his backers down with a powerful staying effort to secure a narrow but impressive victory.
Settled in mid-field by rider Vinnie Colgan, Surely Sacred lobbed along nicely as pacemaker The Chosen One set a steady speed out in front. The attacks came at the 800m mark, with In A Twinkling making a lightning move to dispute the pace as the tempo quickened.
Not to be caught napping, Colgan sent Surely Sacred on a searching wide run where he hit the front shortly after straightening before fending off the challenge of In A Twinkling by a head at the line, with Vernanme running on strongly for third.
“It was a good, tough win, as they put the pressure on pretty early,” trainer Tony Pike said. “Vinnie set him alight pretty early and he has hit the front early enough.
“He [Colgan] probably left a little bit of juice in the tank knowing he had already qualified for the Derby and he will improve off that again.”
Pike was pleased with the effort by Colgan, who showed plenty of initiative to set out after the leaders at just the right time.
“Vinnie has elected to get on his bike and put him into the race which was probably the winning of it,” he said.
“He possibly got there too soon, but he will improve and it would be nice to get a second Derby win.”
Pike collected his first New Zealand Derby title in 2016 with Rangipo and believes Surely Sacred compares favourably in comparison.
“This horse is probably more of a genuine stayer, although he’s still learning, whereas Rangipo was the ultimate professional,” Pike said.