Unbeaten at two years and Champion New Zealand three-year-old, Sacred Falls was special

Sacred Falls raced successfully against the very best company over four seasons in total, winning nine races including four Group Ones. Sacred Falls quality as a racehorse is measured by being the only horse ever to defeat Pierro in Sydney, defeating no fewer than 25 Group One winners during his seven stakes-race wins and, when retired, was the highest stakes winning NZ-bred stallion ever to go to stud in New Zealand with earnings of $4.7 million. Sacred Falls was a bay stallion foaled in 2009 by O’Reilly, from Iguazu’s Girl, sold at the New Zealand Bloodstock Yearling Sales in 2011 for $160,000 to the bid of Guy Mulcaster. The classy colt won his first six races including the 40 running of the Gr.1 New Zealand Two Thousand Guineas (1600m) in the care of Cambridge trainer Tony Pike for owners, Raffles Racing. He also won the Westbury Stud Challenge Stakes at Ruakaka, Gr.2 Hawkes Bay Guineas and the Gr.3 J&A Sarten Memorial at Te Rapa before crossing the Tasman. In March 2013 the colt was trounced by Its A Dundeel in the Gr.1 Rosehill Guineas (2000m) by six and a half lengths, however the distance was not to be his forte.

Waikato Stud subsequently secured equity in the homebred colt who added a further three Group One victories in Australia when transferred to champion trainer Chris Waller. In Sydney with Waller as a three and four year-old, the classy entire won the prestigious Group 1 Doncaster Handicap and was the first colt in 50 years to win back to back Doncasters. The son of O’Reilly burst into the limelight in Australia when he defeated a stellar field in the 2013 Gr.1 Doncaster Handicap (1600m) as he succeeded over champion racehorse Pierro (Lonhro) for trainer Chris Waller. He came from last on the turn, ploughing through heavy going to score the in the event and despite not winning another race since, the galloper came into 2014 version with plenty of evidence to support a second Doncaster win was a distinct possibility.

Returning in 2014 with 56.5kg, a 3.5kgs rise in weight from what he carried to victory the year before, Sacred Falls continued the outstanding record New Zealand-bred horses have in Australia’s premier mile race, winning six of the previous seven runnings of the G1 Doncaster. Ridden by Hong Kong-based Australian jockey Zac Purton, Sacred Falls jumped from barrier 13 and settled with only two horses behind him. Purton cut the corner and picked a path through the field to challenge near the inside. Stable mate Royal Descent appeared to hit the front after coming wide but Sacred Falls surged to the lead to land back-to-back victories in the race. Waller completed an unprecedented first four of the race with Weary and Hawkspur finishing third and fourth respectively. Sacred Falls also showed his undoubted class by winning the WFA Gr.1 George Main Stakes at Royal Randwick - now named the King Charles III Stakes and run on The Everest day of the carnival.

When O’Reilly, his father died, Sacred Falls had just arrived at Waikato Stud so it was like the torch had been passed from father to son, so he was a very special horse for the breeding giants. A 100 per cent homebred being by the Waikato Stud homebred Champion Sire O’Reilly, Sacred Falls boasted an impressive maternal pedigree being a daughter of the winning Redoute’s Choice mare Iguazu’s Girl from a family laden with group winning names such as; Splashing Out, Splurge Shopaholic, Omnicorp, Crimson, Pharostan and Vonusti. Sacred Falls, to date had currently sired 2 individual Group one winners, Icebath and Aegon. Sacred Falls died from a liver-related illness in 2019. A total of 42 yearlings by the emerging stallion were to be offered at New Zealand Bloodstock’s National Yearling Sales in late January 2020.

RACE RECORD - 22: 9-2-1

EARNINGS - A$4,660,237

Gr.1 ATC Doncaster Handicap (Twice)

Gr.1 ATC George Main Stakes

Gr.1 New Zealand Two Thousand Guineas

Gr.2 Hawke’s Bay Guineas

Gr.3 J&A Sarten Memorial Stakes

LR Westbury Stud Challenge Stakes