A top performance to kick off his winter campaign with a win at Randwick over 1200m on Saturday has Hastings trainer Guy Lowry excited about the future prospects of progressive galloper Waihaha Falls (NZ) (Sacred Falls).
Lowry co-bred and owns the four-year-old son of Sacred Falls with good friend Mark Chittick and his father Garry and sent the gelding over to Sydney trainer John O’Shea after he had impressively won a 1000m trial at Foxton back in October 2020.
A slow maturing type, Waihaha Falls has now had just the eight starts for O’Shea, winning three of them and looks to have bigger and brighter objectives on the horizon.
“He looked pretty good on Saturday and it is a real thrill to see him win first-up like that,” Lowry said.
“He has always shown plenty of ability and he won his trial here in New Zealand in good style.
“Mark, Garry and I bred him out of a mare called Mink that I bought as a yearling filly and Mark and I raced her here in New Zealand before sending her to John O’Shea where she won a couple for us.
“It is quite a slow maturing family that traces back to horses like Wellington Cup (Gr.2, 2400m) winner Blood Brotha and to Prince Majestic who was a champion back in the 1980’s.
“When Mink had finished racing, we brought her home and this guy is her fourth foal.
“After he won his trial, we thought we might get some decent offers for him but the money never came so we decided to try him with John.
“He only had his first start in March last year and has been a bit weak, but he seems to have really strengthened up for this prep and there was plenty to like about his win on Saturday.”
O’Shea will now put a plan together for Waihaha Falls with Lowry hoping he can take the step up to a better level during this campaign.
“John was pretty confident he could go well first-up and he ran a decent time that was more than a second faster than the other 1200m race on the day,” Lowry said.
“He hasn’t said what his plans are for him but I would expect we would hear sometime during the week about where we might be heading with him.
“He looks fairly versatile so I would hope he could be a candidate for a stakes race in the near future.”
Photo Credit: Race Images – Peter Rubery
Lowry also reported that progressive three-year-old Wewillrock (NZ) (El Roca) was currently enjoying time in the spelling paddock along with another promising type in Candle (NZ) (Super Easy) who has won two of her three starts.
“Wewillrock is having three weeks in the paddock before we get him back to get him ready for the spring,” he said.
“At this stage we might have a look at the Pegasus Stakes (Listed, 1000m) during the New Zealand Cup carnival at Riccarton while the Telegraph (Gr.1, 1200m) is another long-term option if he is up to it.
“Following that we might also look at Syndey in the autumn as he handles all track conditions and that would be a real advantage over there given how wet it has been for the last few years.
“Candle is also a very promising filly who is also having a break at the moment.
“We think she is definitely capable of stepping up to stakes company during her next campaign.”
