Sacred Elixir ready for Derby glory
He might be unsure of his age but Tony Pike is sure his pride- and- joy is at peak fitness for staying feature
Tony Pike stared into the Yarra River on his way to lunch in Melbourne yesterday and focused his mind.
Not too much, just the right amount, he told himself.
The Waikato trainer is about to create history for himself if, as everyone expects, Sacred Elixir gets over the line first in this afternoon's A$ 1.5 million Victoria Derby.
On the eve of his greatest moment in racing, Pike did not want to know about the enormous stakemoney he was about to race for. Faint hope. Pike was desperate to treat this icon classic as if it were a $ 7000 Woodville maiden race.
“There is always a temptation to change your normal approach when you head into a major race like this. That's when you stuff things up.
“You have to treat it as if it's just any other race. You can't allow yourself to be overawed by the occasion.”
Pike must have been concentrating reasonably hard because when asked his age he couldn't remember whether he is 41 or 42.
This afternoon, with luck, he won't care.
Parents Wayne and Vicki ran Hawke’s Bay pubs.
“I grew up riding trackwork and would have loved to have been a jockey, but that was never going to happen [ height]. I did a lot of showjumping and the family moved to Cambridge in 1987.”
One who will be on the Pike team at Flemington today will be Jim “The Pumper” Cassidy, a longtime Pike family friend. “I stayed with Jimmy when I went to Sydney for six months in the early days. I spent three months with Rogey [ Graeme Rogerson] and Gai [ Waterhouse].”
Pike's success in recent seasons has been remarkable, but he sees it as much more gradual than that. “What has helped is that no longer are we forced to sell our good horses.
“For quite a few years we'd sell our best horses [ overseas] and try and do our best with what we had left.
“Obviously it has helped to have owners like Raffles [ Sacred Elixir's owners] and new clients that don't sell their horses.”
As much as you look closely at today's full field of opponents facing Sacred Elixir it is difficult to make a case for one of them to beat him. Pike doesn't disagree, although he doesn't want to get ahead of himself.
“I was asked yesterday by the Press whether I thought we'd win and I said: ‘ If I wasn't attached to the stable, I'd still be backing Sacred Elixir'.
“Having said that, this is a Derby, it's 2500m and there is a million and a half on the line. Derbys are not easy to win and you always need luck.”
With Hong Kong- based jockey Zac Purton engaged and a favourable barrier draw ( No 1) Pike has more than one luck base covered.
Sacred Elixir is at very short odds and the value for a place looks to be the other New Zealander Highlad.
Forget his last run when he was caught wide throughout, but he will need luck from yet another bad barrier
Every successful trainer has their own mantra. Jim Gibbs is “never press the panic button”. Colin Jillings used to declare “patience”.
Tony Pike placed the greatest importance on soundness. “This horse looks magnificent and is completely sound. Picture / NZ Racing Desk
“I would rather have a horse 90 per cent fit and 100 per cent sound than the other way around.”
TAB Market: $ 2.80 Sacred Elixir, $ 8 So Si Bon, $ 8.50 Swear, $ 15 Beach Life, Inference; $ 16 Rocketeer, $ 17 Prized Icon, $ 18 Captain Duffy, Morvada, Tumultuous; $ 21 Highlad, $ 26 Wine Bush, $ 31 Hollywood Mo, Kent; $ 41 Silvera, $ 51 Anaheim, $ 61 All Out Of Love, $ 101 Peter John, Shine Tak Star, Zoffman. Leading Melbourne Cup contender Jameka will undergo a second precautionary veterinary inspection after shifting a shoe on her near fore hoof. All 32 horses still in the mix for Tuesday’s Cup have been inspected by Racing Victoria vets on Thursday and yesterday, with Caulfield Cup winner Jameka the only one that needs to be looked at again. Jameka is the second favourite behind Hartnell for the Cup, with the final field to be declared tonight. Trainer Matt Cumani has ridden Melbourne Cup contender Grey Lion through the shallows at Altona Beach. Cumani, who is based at Ballarat but training Grey Lion from the Werribee quarantine centre, took the horse for a wade on the beach yesterday. A laststart second in the Geelong Cup, Grey Lion will be Cumani’s first Melbourne Cup runner in his first season of training. Missouri horseman Dolphus Morrison, . the breeder of the great filly Rachel Alexandra, has died. He was 82. He died Wednesday at a nursing home and had Alzheimer’s, his wife, Ellen, said. Morrison was involved in thoroughbred racing for more than three decades when he and trainer Hal Wiggins struck gold with Rachel Alexandra in 2009. The champion filly, named after a grand- daughter of Morrison’s, won the Preakness that year and became the face of his breeding programme. Trainer Mick Price believes the Victoria Racing Club will eventually break with tradition and cut the distance of the Victoria Derby. Price has again called on officials to slash the Flemington Classic’s distance by 500m to protect the longevity of Australia’s young stayers, arguing that a 2000m Derby is still a big test. Tommy Berry learned a lesson the last time he rode in the Melbourne Cup. The leading Sydney jockey finished fourth aboard Trip To Paris last year in a race that was run at a slow pace. There won’t be any loafing this year if Berry has his way on Japanese stayer Curren Mirotic. “It’s very frustrating for them when they have brought a few horses out that get back. They have found a horse this year that races up on the pace and if the pace isn’t there to suit us, we’ll make it suit us.” Talented stayer Blathwayt is to be the master of his own destiny. The lightlyraced 7- year- old is at the crossroads of his spring and summer campaign with his performance today at Awapuni to decide his immediate future. “I’ve left him in the New Zealand Cup and we’ll see how he goes at the weekend,” part- owner and trainer Alby MacGregor said.