Sacred Capital (NZ) Heads Big Ready to Run Result in Macau Derby

With a dominant performance in Saturday’s M$2.6 million Macau Derby (1800m), Sacred Capital (NZ) (O’Reilly) headed a quinella for graduates of the Ready to Run Sale at Karaka.

Sacred Capital was a $580,000 purchase at the 2016 Ready to Run Sale, while runner-up Eclair Lightning (NZ) (Darci Brahma) cost $125,000 at the same Sale.

Sacred Capital was the favourite for Saturday’s Derby on the strength of his impressive lead-up form, and he lived up to expectations despite drawing the outside gate in a 14-horse field.

After showing good early speed under jockey Peter Ho, Sacred Capital moved across to the rail to sit just behind the leader.

Angled into the clear at the top of the straight, Sacred Capital showed a brilliant turn of foot to burst to a clear lead 200 metres from the finish. Eclair Lightning made up ground in the final stages, but Sacred Capital was well out of reach and scored by a length and three-quarters.

It was a third Macau Derby victory in the last five years for prominent owners Raffles Racing.

“Boom! Our boy Sacred Capital won the 2019 Macau Derby, following The Alfonso (Magnus) in 2015 and Sacred Man (Fastnet Rock) in 2017,” they tweeted. “Well done trainer Joe Lau and jockey W L Ho. Big congrats to our partner Eric Chen.”

Sacred Capital began his career under the name Rellson in Australia, where his six starts included a maiden victory, a fourth in the Listed Poseidon Stakes (1400m) and sixth placings in the Group 2 Autumn Classic (1800m) and Group 3 Carbine Club Stakes (1600m).

Since relocating to Macau, Sacred Capital has won five of his seven starts and earned more than M$2 million in prize-money (NZ$374,000).

Sacred Capital comes from a strong New Zealand family, with his dam Honolulu (NZ) (Savabeel) being a half-sister to the multiple Group 1 winner and sire Alamosa (NZ) (O’Reilly).

“He was one that we had earmarked in that Ready to Run Sale, but the final price was too rich for our blood,” Raffles Farm manager Bruce Sherwin told NZ Racing Desk. “The opportunity arose to take a shareholding in him, and we jumped at the chance.

“He did his initial racing in Australia under the name Rellson, where he won once from six starts without really setting the world alight.

“We had identified him as the ideal type for Macau, so Dato Yap’s son Kyan made an offer to buy out the other partners in the horse, which was accepted and he was sent to Joe Lau’s stable where he has absolutely thrived.

“Joe has done a wonderful job with our horses over a number of years and has come up trumps once again. The horse looked a picture and raced accordingly.”

The 2019 Ready to Run Sale will be held at Karaka on November 20 and 21.