Second G1 Doncaster Falls to Sacred

Kiwi miler Sacred Falls (NZ) (O’Reilly) successfully defended the Group 1 A$3,000,000 The Star Doncaster Mile (1600m) on the first day of The Championships at Royal Randwick in Sydney.

Sacred Falls (NZ) successful in back-to-back Group 1 The Star Doncaster Mile.

The son of O’Reilly burst into the limelight in Australia this time last year as he defeated a stellar field in the 2013 Group 1 Doncaster Handicap as he succeeded over champion racehorse Pierro (Lonhro) for trainer Chris Waller.

Returning this year with 56.5kg, a 3.5kgs rise in weight from what he carried to victory last year, the son of O’Reilly continued the outstanding record New Zealand-bred horses have in Australia’s premier mile race, winning six of the last seven runnings of the Group 1 Doncaster Handicap.

Ridden by Hong Kong-based Australian jockey Zac Purton, Sacred Falls jumped from barrier 13 and settled with only two horses behind him. Purton cut the corner and picked a path through the field to challenge near the inside.

Stable mate Royal Descent (Redoute’s Choice) appeared to hit the front after coming wide but Sacred Falls surged to the lead to land back-to-back victories in the race. Waller completed an unprecedented first four of the race with Weary (Astronomer Royal) and Hawkspur (Purrealist) finishing third and fourth respectively.

Waikato Stud sold Sacred Falls as a yearling at the 2011 Karaka Premier Sale and bought back into the horse following his impressive start to his career in New Zealand, where he remains unbeaten. The entire is owned by Dato Yap Kim San, Raffles Thoroughbred Racing and Garry Chittick of Waikato Stud.

“It was a very strong win, which is nice,” commented Garry Chittick. “To come from as far back as he did and pick up a mare as good as Royal Descent was pretty impressive, he really won with a bit of dominance.

“We have always been looking for a son of O’Reilly and he is a very good looking, attractive horse so when he won his six in a row we thought he was the one and Dato was good enough to sell part of him back to us.

“He will finish up back at Waikato Stud and the intention is that he will go to stud at the end of the season.”

Saturday’s victory was the four-year-old’s first win since last year’s Doncaster and was the eighth win in his 18-start career. The entire has now won three Group 1 races having claimed the Group 1 NZ 2000 Guineas as well, earning a total of A$3,627,737 in prizemoney so far.

Bred by Waikato Stud Ltd, Sacred Falls is out of Iguazu’s Girl (Redoute’s Choice) and is a three-quarter-brother to Group 3 winner and Group 1 runner-up Splashing Out (O’Reilly), the dam of Group 2 winner Shopaholic (Pins).

Guy Mulcaster purchased Sacred Falls for $160,000 from the 2011 Karaka Premier Sale from Waikato Stud.

Sacred Falls is by New Zealand’s Champion Sire O’Reilly who is on track to retain his Leading Sire title in New Zealand and has been propelled to ninth on the Australian Sires Table following a great Sydney Autumn Carnival with Silent Achiever (NZ) (O’Reilly) helping his cause with victories in the Group 1 Ranvet Stakes and Group 1 BMW Stakes.

New Zealand-bred horses were once again to the fore on Saturday in Sydney with Criterion (NZ) (Sebring) triumphant in the Group 1 Australian Derby, the sixth kiwi-bred winner in the last eight years.

Both Criterion and Silent Achiever have won two Group 1 races over the carnival, with Group 1 victories by Sacred Falls, Lucia Valentina (NZ) (Savabeel) and Tiger Tees (NZ) (Dubawi) adding to a successful autumn in Sydney for New Zealand-bred horses.