Chris Waller praised the initiative of jockey Glyn Schofield and at the same time predicted a big future for Sacred Pins after the three-year-old remained unbeaten at Rosehill on Saturday.
Schofield was instructed to sit behind the speed in fifth or sixth in Saturday’s Schweppes Handicap (1200m) but when the heavily-backed Sacred Pins was going to be posted wide the jockey sent the gelding forward to take up the running.
Sacred Pins, who firmed from $5 to $3.80 favouritism, went on to record his second win from as many starts as he held a 1-1/4-length advantage over Embark ($26) on the line with a long neck to Gaze In Awe ($8) and Cindarockinrella ($6.50) who dead-heated for third.
“Good ride,” Waller said.
“The instructions were to be about fifth or sixth because there looked to be heaps of speed and if we went with them we probably wouldn’t clear them.
“But he was just too good.”
Waller believes Sacred Pins can be a carnival player in the autumn but his initial thoughts of the son of Pins being a miler are likely to be revised.
“He’s very good,” Waller said.
“With everything we do with him he just takes the next step. He’s a really docile horse and just does nothing around the stable and you wouldn’t think he was a good horse until you see him gallop and see him on race day.
“I think he’s got a pretty big future.
“I was thinking more a mile (1600m) in the autumn, but he’s got some speed.
“He might be a bit more brilliant.”
Schofield said Sacred Pins was travelling too keenly to keep trying to slot in behind the lead which forced him to roll forward on settling down.
“He was travelling that much keener than everything else early on,” the jockey said.
“I was basically checking him just to try to get him in behind, and when you are doing that you’re better off just letting him roll along.
“He’s got the speed, he beat them for speed and he beat them in the end.”
AAP TURF
