"I told Tony 'it's pretty simple what you have to do from now on: just keep turning up with him in the same form as he was in today'," Sherwin said.
Sherwin manages Sacred Star's racing career for Raffles Farm's Malaysian owner
Dato Yap Kim San and is in constant contact with Pike, who trains the horse at
Cambridge."He was brilliant that day and the reports are all positive going forward," Sherwin said.
Sacred Star blitzed his Telegraph rivals by four lengths carrying the topweight of 57kg and comes in even better at the weights under the weight-for-age conditions for Saturday's Gr.1 NRM Sprint (1400m) at Te Rapa, a race he finished a close second to Viadana in last year.
"This was his target race for the campaign," Sherwin said.
"He's come through the Trentham trip well and his work this week was first-class. The only real trick now is the barrier draw. If he'd come up with a good gate, we'd be supremely confident but the draw has certainly tempered our confidence and just added that element of doubt. We just need a few things to go his way from that alley."
Overcoming the outside gate of 13 will be the responsibility of Vinnie Colgan, who was aboard for the Telegraph win.
"Vinnie rode him perfectly at Trentham. It would have been silly to change a winning combo," Sherwin said.
Pike was happy to heed Sherwin's advice, joking that he ignored any unnecessary pressure when it came to his chum but also confirming Sacred Star was right on track for his weekend assignment.
"We couldn't be happier with him. He's taken no harm from the Telegraph run whatsoever. He's got an awkward draw to overcome but he's fresh and happy and he's ready to run another top race," Pike said.
Meanwhile, Sherwin reported star galloper Sacred Falls had settled back into Chris Waller's Sydney stable like he had never left.
"Chris is very happy with him. He'll trial next week," Sherwin said.
The Raffles-owned, Pike-trained Rock Diva will keep the ball rolling when she tackles the Gr.2 Avondale Cup (2400m) at Ellerslie on Saturday week.
"She's just been caught out by slowly run races but she's very well," Sherwin said. - NZ Racing Desk
