Bellatrix Star Takes Early Lead in TAB Karaka Millions 2YO Race

The countdown to the 2024 TAB Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m) kicked off on Saturday with the first two-year-old race of New Zealand’s 2023-24 racing season.

The $25,000 Whanganui Chronicle 2YO (800m) is staged in early September every year, and despite being almost five months out from the main event, it has frequently made a major Karaka Millions impact. It has unearthed Karaka Million heroes Vespa (NZ) (Elusive City) and Cool Aza Beel (NZ) (Savabeel), while Antonio Lombardo (NZ) (Pins) ran second in both races in 2010-11 and Kingsman (NZ) (Darci Brahma) finished third in both races in 2015-16.

This year’s edition has made its mark on the order of entry for the TAB Karaka Millions 2YO, with all of the first three placegetters being Karaka Millions-eligible.

The race was won in impressive style by Bellatrix Star (Star Witness), who is trained by Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson for the Fortuna Bellatrix Star Syndicate. She earned $14,375 to take pole position in the early stages of the TAB Karaka Millions 2YO race.

“Even though she won by a short margin, it was most impressive given the way she got it done,” Walker said. “She had to do it the tough way, getting back and running down the leader, and it’s not that easy over only 800 metres.

“Michael (McNab) gave her an educational sort of ride and that will be great experience for her going forward.

“She’ll have a little break now at Te Akau Stud. I think she’ll come back bigger and stronger, and I certainly feel she is a Karaka Millions 2YO type of filly. There is a lot of upside with her and she has the size and scope to really train on.”

Bellatrix Star was offered by Phoenix Park in Book 1 of Karaka 2023, where Te Akau Racing’s David Ellis secured her for $80,000 on behalf of John Galvin’s Fortuna.

“Her work was really good leading into her trial win at Te Rapa, her jumpouts have been good too, and she worked sensationally on Tuesday,” Galvin said. “So there was a lot of confidence in the camp, but of course they were all new, all on debut, and just hard to line up.

“She’s Karaka Millions-registered, probably now qualified for the race in January with the stake money from today, so we’ll just work backwards from that, give her a break and set her up for a couple of races leading into the KM.”

Ellis has bought all of the last seven winners of the Karaka Millions 2YO, beginning with Fortuna’s mighty Melody Belle (NZ) (Commands) in 2017. Te Akau’s incredible run has carried on through subsequent years with Avantage (Fastnet Rock), Probabeel (NZ) (Savabeel), Cool Aza Beel, On The Bubbles (Brazen Beau), Dynastic (NZ) (Almanzor) and Tokyo Tycoon (NZ) (Satono Aladdin).

The runner-up in Saturday’s race was Hard Attack (NZ) (All Too Hard), who earned $4,625, while Ka Pai Kiwi (NZ) (Better Than Ready) banked $2,250 with her third placing.

The next two-year-old race on the itinerary is a 950-metre race at Tauranga on September 23, which also has a stake of $25,000.

The $1m TAB Karaka Millions 2YO will be run on Saturday 27 January 2024, on the eve of the Karaka 2024 National Yearling Sales Series. The action-packed twilight raceday will also feature the $1.5m TAB Karaka Millions 3YO (1600m), along with the brand-new $1m Elsdon Park Aoteroa Classic (1600m) race for four-year-olds.