KING'S SECRET OUTGUNS THE INSTRUCTOR IN A TWO-WAY FIGHT IN THE CANTERBURY SPRINT

By Graham Potter | Thursday, January 1, 2026

The Joe Pride trained King’s Secret scored an eye-catching win in the Listed Canterbury Sprint getting home by 0.30 length after a protracted struggle with the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott trained The Instructor.

These two runners had vied for favouritism with The Instructor eventually shading King’s Secret in that regard, firming into a starting price of $2.70 with King’s Secret drifting to $3.80 … and, in the race itself it was also always a two horse contest with never more than three-quarters-of-a-length separating the two main fancies at any stage of the running.

It was The instructor who jumped straight into the lead, but he had King’s Secret glued to his outside for company from the very first strides … and they took the field up to the home turn, where The Instructor cornered with that narrow lead, seeming still travelling comfortably enough under Adam Hyeronimus.

When The Instructor tired to kick away though, King’s Secret matched his effort early in the home straight … and then moved menacingly alongside his rival approaching the 200m mark.

From the 200m to the 120m it was a straight stride-for-stride battle, but King’s Secret then gradually eased himself into the lead. The Instructor kept fighting gamely, but, having gained that slight advantage, King’s Secret was good enough to maintain that winning effort to the line.

It was a cool and calculated ride by Andrew Atkins on the progressive four-year-old who was making it back-to-back wins here after having saluted at his previous start in a BM94 Handicap at Randwick.

More articles