The progressive Sacramental added a second career victory to his record, winning at Bendigo on Sunday October 6. The lightly raced son of Sacred Falls returned in great fashion this preparation, narrowly going down in a photo at Sandown, before going one better at Bendigo, in front of a large group of owners. Sacramental races in the Roll The Dice Racing silks, many of whom reside in Bendigo and surrounding regions, so it was a great thrill to cheer him home on the home track.
A fantastic ride by Jye McNeil ensured Sacramental had ‘every possible’ in running and he quickly put the race away from the 400m, using his tactical dominance to his advantage and racing away in the straight. With 100m to go, he was 2lengths clear and looked to be extending away for an easy win, but in the proceeding stages, he switched off, ears pricked and had a good look at the winning post and his surroundings, which resulted in his rivals getting within half a length of him. When asked post-race, a relieved Freedman joked that “he had a few shaky moments there late” but was really pleased with the efforts of his gelding. “He’s done a good job, he is a horse with plenty of upside and needs to be handled gently as the breed continue to get better with age.”
With two wins from only five starts, Sacramental certainly is one to keep in the black book as he rises through the grades in throughout this racing season and beyond. Congratulations to the connections of Sacramental.
