Sacred Master
Photo- Trish Dunell
Sacred Master's next performance will tell Tony Pike if the up and coming stayer is ready for a Group One start.
The Cambridge four-year-old has made impressive progress to this point with five wins from his 11 appearances.
"If he runs well in the Avondale Cup then we'll probably roll the dice and run him in the Auckland Cup," Pike said. "It may be a year too soon for him, but we'll find out.
"He's a very lightly-raced horse and that wasn't really his race at Matamata, but he got the job done."
Currently at $11 for the Barfoot & Thompson Auckland Cup in a market headed by Vavasour at $7, Sacred Master was a narrow victor on Saturday and Pike would have been forgiving had he not won.
"There was a bias and they were up on the pace and winning all day," Pike said. "We had to hook out and go early and he hadn't run for four weeks.
"He was quite fresh before the race so he will improve a ton."
Meanwhile, Skyweka has been rewarded with some time off after consecutive wins in the central districts last month.
The four-year-old was successful at Otaki before impressively claiming top honours in the Douro Cup at Trentham where stablemate Nomisma finished sixth.
"She's going super and it was all over in three strides while Nomisma was held up a bit," Pike said.
"Skyweka has had a big preparation and she's having three weeks off. She'll come back and may have two or three runs before the winter settles in and she could be a cups' mare next season." – NZ Racing Desk.
The Cambridge four-year-old has made impressive progress to this point with five wins from his 11 appearances.
"If he runs well in the Avondale Cup then we'll probably roll the dice and run him in the Auckland Cup," Pike said. "It may be a year too soon for him, but we'll find out.
"He's a very lightly-raced horse and that wasn't really his race at Matamata, but he got the job done."
Currently at $11 for the Barfoot & Thompson Auckland Cup in a market headed by Vavasour at $7, Sacred Master was a narrow victor on Saturday and Pike would have been forgiving had he not won.
"There was a bias and they were up on the pace and winning all day," Pike said. "We had to hook out and go early and he hadn't run for four weeks.
"He was quite fresh before the race so he will improve a ton."
Meanwhile, Skyweka has been rewarded with some time off after consecutive wins in the central districts last month.
The four-year-old was successful at Otaki before impressively claiming top honours in the Douro Cup at Trentham where stablemate Nomisma finished sixth.
"She's going super and it was all over in three strides while Nomisma was held up a bit," Pike said.
"Skyweka has had a big preparation and she's having three weeks off. She'll come back and may have two or three runs before the winter settles in and she could be a cups' mare next season." – NZ Racing Desk.