Classy colt Sacred Falls (NZ) extended his unbeaten run to five in the G3 James & Annie Sarten Memorial (1400m) Te Rapa on Monday.

Sacred Falls (3c O’Reilly – Iguazu’s Girl by Redoute’s Choice) is now a $1.70 favourite for the G1 NZ 2000 Guineas at Riccarton next month.  The Te Rapa field was arguably the best line-up of three-year-olds seen out this season with horses the calibre of Warhorse (General Nediym), Pure Elegance (Redoute’s Choice), Fix (Iffraaj) and Rollout the Carpet (Holy Roman Emperor).

Rollout the Carpet laid down a determined challenge in the straight, however, the O’Reilly colt put his head down to win by a long neck.  “We were very happy with his performance as we had been pretty easy on him since his Hawke’s Bay Guineas victory,” commented co-trainer Tony Pike.  “It was a very strong field and he does prefer a firmer track but he always looked in control.

“We will just keep him ticking over and hopefully he can produce another good performance in the Guineas.”

Bred and offered by Waikato Stud, Sacred Falls was purchased by Mulcaster Bloodstock from NZ Bloodstock’s 2011 Karaka Premier Sale for $160,000.  He is raced by Dato Yap and Bruce Sherwin’s Raffles Dancers Syndicate and has now earned over $140,000.