Sacred Elixir
Trish Dunell
An eye-catching finish for sixth in Saturday's Gr. 2 Sires' Produce Stakes (1350m) at Doomben has seen kiwi galloper Scared Elixir jump to the forefront of discussions for the Gr. 1 BMW JJ Atkins (1660m) in a fortnight.
The Tony Pike trained Pour Moi gelding passed his biggest test to date with a dashing performance that, while not producing a victory, has him stamped as one of the major players for the Brisbane Winter Carnival's biggest two-year-old event.
Settled near the rear in the early rush for positions on Saturday, Sacred Elixir was held up nearing the home turn before dashing home in cramped quarters to finish less than two lengths from the eventual winner, Attention.
It was run that delighted his trainer who had harboured some reservations before the race.
"Doomben is not really a track that suits him as he is a big horse who needs clear galloping room and plenty of time to wind up," noted Pike.
"He is still pretty green and just didn't get any luck when he was coming into the race on the corner. To get home like he did was very encouraging and he was still strong well past the post so it bodes well for the step up to 1600 metres in the JJ Atkins around the roomier Eagle Farm circuit."
Pike will begin his quest for his first Group One winner at this year's Brisbane Winter Carnival when Provocative takes on the three-year-old fillies in Saturday's Queensland Oaks.
"She is 19th on the order of entry for the Oaks so needs a scratching to make the field but we've heard there are one or two higher ranked runners that are doubtful so we're hopeful of making it," he said.
"She will have a gallop at Eagle Farm on Tuesday when they open the track for the Oaks runners so we'll get a good line on her then but she has thrived since her win at Ipswich.
"We know she can stay so the 2400 metres of the Oaks isn't a concern and you would have to rate her chances given there doesn't really appear to be a stand-out in this year's line-up." – NZ Racing Desk
The Tony Pike trained Pour Moi gelding passed his biggest test to date with a dashing performance that, while not producing a victory, has him stamped as one of the major players for the Brisbane Winter Carnival's biggest two-year-old event.
Settled near the rear in the early rush for positions on Saturday, Sacred Elixir was held up nearing the home turn before dashing home in cramped quarters to finish less than two lengths from the eventual winner, Attention.
It was run that delighted his trainer who had harboured some reservations before the race.
"Doomben is not really a track that suits him as he is a big horse who needs clear galloping room and plenty of time to wind up," noted Pike.
"He is still pretty green and just didn't get any luck when he was coming into the race on the corner. To get home like he did was very encouraging and he was still strong well past the post so it bodes well for the step up to 1600 metres in the JJ Atkins around the roomier Eagle Farm circuit."
Pike will begin his quest for his first Group One winner at this year's Brisbane Winter Carnival when Provocative takes on the three-year-old fillies in Saturday's Queensland Oaks.
"She is 19th on the order of entry for the Oaks so needs a scratching to make the field but we've heard there are one or two higher ranked runners that are doubtful so we're hopeful of making it," he said.
"She will have a gallop at Eagle Farm on Tuesday when they open the track for the Oaks runners so we'll get a good line on her then but she has thrived since her win at Ipswich.
"We know she can stay so the 2400 metres of the Oaks isn't a concern and you would have to rate her chances given there doesn't really appear to be a stand-out in this year's line-up." – NZ Racing Desk
