Progressive three-year-old Sacred Satono produced a winning effort that more than honoured the memory of the champion galloper that Saturday's feature race at Pukekohe was named after when taking out the Group 3 Bonecrusher Stakes (1400m).
The Bruce Wallace and Grant Cooksley-trained runner was all out at the 200m as he battled with eventual runner-up The Intimidator for the win but pulled out something extra to put his head in front where it mattered most to secure victory.
Sent out a -111.11 favourite, Sacred Satono enjoyed a perfect run on the fence in midfield for rider Kozzi Asano and loomed into contention behind the pacemakers as the field turned into the home straight.
Urged to the lead by Asano, Sacred Satono was quickly joined by The Intimidator as the pair set down for a grandstand finish that didn't disappoint as they slugged it out before the son of promising Rich Hill Stud shuttle stallion Satono Aladdin gained the upper hand just short of the winning post.
Cooksley was pleased to see his charge back up from a strong performance a fortnight ago when finishing second to Letzbeglam and the older horses in the Group 3 Counties Bowl (1100m).
“He had come on nicely from that run last time and we were pleased with him coming into today,” Cooksley said.
“He won it nicely as he fought back well when the two of them came together.
“I don't think he actually saw the other horse initially but when he did, he pulled out the extra effort and won quite easily.
“It was a nice ride by Kozzi as he had him in a good spot all the way, did no work and produced him at just the right moment.”
Cooksley advised the main target for his charge, who has now won three of his nine starts and just under $150,000 in prizemoney, would be the Karaka Million 3YO Classic (1600m) to be run at Pukekohe on 21 January.
“The Karaka Mile will be the main go for him this time in,” he said.
“I would say he will have one more run between then and now and then straight to that race.
“We think he will be competitive but he is still probably six months away from being fully matured.
“If all goes well, we will consider an autumn campaign in Australia, but that is a long way off at this stage.”
Out of the six-race winner Belle Joie, Sacred Satono was a $34,000 purchase by Wallace out of the Rich Hill Stud draft during the Book 2 sale at Karaka in 2021.
He becomes the second stakes winner for his sire Satono Aladdin, a son of internationally recognised Japanese stallion Deep Impact, who has shuttled to Rich Hill Stud in the Waikato for four of the last five southern hemisphere breeding seasons.
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