THE Rock N Pop gelding Surely Sacred landed an important win in the 2,000-metre Group 2 Avondale Guineas at Ellerslie on Saturday that sees him at the head of the market for New Zealand Derby on March 2nd.

A winner of the 1,600-metre Auckland Guineas on New Year’s Day on just his third start, Surely Sacred, trained by Tony Pike – who won his first Derby with Rangipo in 2016 – was ridden by Vinnie Colgan, who secured the ride following the suspension of regular rider Leith Innes.