STONE MOTHERLESS LAST TO FIRST SACRED PALACE IS NO COMMONER

 

Sacred Palace, a private purchase out of New Zealand by Spicer Thoroughbreds, looks to have a very bright future in Australia after circling the field in the straight to win a Bench Mark 64 at Bendigo on July 1.

“He hasn’t had the best of luck in a handful of runs thus far, but he showed he has a great motor when he gets clear-running,” Brad Spicer said after the blistering performance.

“Credit where credit is due. After he failed to run out a strong 1300 last start, (trainer) Lindsey Smith freshened him and dropped back to 1100 metres. That was a masterstroke.”

Declan Bates rode him cold early before launching a barnstorming run down the outside to ecord an impressive win.

“We were quite happy for him to come back from the wide gate and unleash down the outside. He had to be good to win from where he was really. Hopefully the horse takes a bit of confidence from that,” Bates said.

A winner on debut at New Plymouth on New Zealand’s north island in October last year, the Bendigo triumph was Sacred Palace’s second in seven starts. The brown gelding is a son of two-time Doncaster Mile winner Sacred Falls.

Trainer Lindsey Smith will consider some races for three-year-olds in the metropolitan area in the run up to the end of the season on July 31 as good options for Sacred Palace.

The Bendigo victory triggered a run of success for Spicer Thoroughbreds and Smith. A winning hat-trick at Geelong the following day signaled the team havea big month ahead.