The Sophie Price-trained Sacred Rose prevailed by 0.4L over Capistrano Rocs in a close finish at Riverton on 1 January. 

Sophie Price also trained Henley to win the inaugural running of the Otago Daily Times (ODT) Southern Mile in 2022 and will be looking to repeat the performance with Sacred Rose, who is on the second line of points behind Candidate with 12 points.

Candidate is the only horse to race in two of the three heats to date and tops the rankings after finishing third at Wingatui on Boxing Day and fifth on New Year’s Day at Riverton. 

Astute Tapanui trainers of Candidate, Nikki and Barrie Blatch, understand the importance of lining up and earning points to secure a place in the $200,000 final on 2 March 2024 at Wingatui.

A full breakdown of each heat, results and rankings is available to view here.