Sacred Elixir (closest to camera)
Trish Dunell
Sacred Elixir's performances during his brief juvenile campaign have far exceeded expectations.
The strapping youngster's debut season efforts came as a pleasant surprise to Cambridge trainer Tony Pike, who has now put the two-year-old aside to strengthen.
Sacred Elixir was narrowly beaten on debut before he accounted for The Soultaker at Ellerslie to earn a return ticket to Auckland for the Listed Karaka Million, in which he closed strongly for sixth after going back from a wide barrier.
"His sectionals were the fastest of the race – it was an enormous run," Pike said.
"He couldn't go the early speed and he's not bred to be a two-year-old. He probably won't run again this season and we're looking forward to having him in some nice three-year-old races."
By the Gr.1 Epsom Derby winner Pour Moi, Sacred Elixir was a $170,000 yearling purchase for Raffles Racing and is out of a grand-daughter of the champion mare and Gr.1 Japan Cup winner Horlicks.
Meanwhile, the stable's crack sprinter Sacred Star is thriving ahead of this Saturday's Gr.1 NRM Sprint at Te Rapa.
The six-year-old just needs the right underfoot conditions to give him a chance of making a successful defence of the title he won last season at the expense of Natuzzi.
"It's just been a nightmare for him, it's not often the Railway and the Telegraph are run on wet tracks," Pike said. – NZ Racing Desk.
The strapping youngster's debut season efforts came as a pleasant surprise to Cambridge trainer Tony Pike, who has now put the two-year-old aside to strengthen.
Sacred Elixir was narrowly beaten on debut before he accounted for The Soultaker at Ellerslie to earn a return ticket to Auckland for the Listed Karaka Million, in which he closed strongly for sixth after going back from a wide barrier.
"His sectionals were the fastest of the race – it was an enormous run," Pike said.
"He couldn't go the early speed and he's not bred to be a two-year-old. He probably won't run again this season and we're looking forward to having him in some nice three-year-old races."
By the Gr.1 Epsom Derby winner Pour Moi, Sacred Elixir was a $170,000 yearling purchase for Raffles Racing and is out of a grand-daughter of the champion mare and Gr.1 Japan Cup winner Horlicks.
Meanwhile, the stable's crack sprinter Sacred Star is thriving ahead of this Saturday's Gr.1 NRM Sprint at Te Rapa.
The six-year-old just needs the right underfoot conditions to give him a chance of making a successful defence of the title he won last season at the expense of Natuzzi.
"It's just been a nightmare for him, it's not often the Railway and the Telegraph are run on wet tracks," Pike said. – NZ Racing Desk.