TAB Karaka Millions 2YO Draw Delivers Varying Fortunes for Favourites

The stage is set for an action-packed 18th running of the $1m TAB Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m) at Ellerslie on Saturday after a barrier draw that delivered mixed results for leading contenders.

The draw was staged at Karaka on Wednesday morning, with connections able to choose their own positions in the gates after their horses’ names were drawn at random.

Toretto (NZ) (Ardrossan) landed the coveted ace draw, while Te Akau Racing’s hopes for an incredible eighth win in New Zealand’s richest two-year-old race were done no harm by their barriers.

Te Akau’s unbeaten favourite To Bravery Born (NZ) (Snitzel) drew gate two, with La Dorada (NZ) (Super Seth) in five, Belle Du Monde (Zoustar) in eight and the first emergency Dare To Proisir (NZ) (Proisir) in gate 10. All of the quartet were bought at Karaka by David Ellis, who purchased seven consecutive winners of this race between 2017 and 2023.

Reece Trumper, who works as Te Akau’s racing manager alongside trainers Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson, gave a positive report on their Karaka Millions quartet on Wednesday morning.

“They all galloped really nicely this morning,” he said. “They’re holding together well and are going into the race in great order, and now they’ve all drawn well too.”

The same could not be said for the classy filly Too Sweet (NZ) (Satono Aladdin). The last-start Group Two Eclipse Stakes (1200m) winner has spent most of the last month at the top of fixed-odds betting, but slipped to $6 second favouritism after drawing gate 15.

Too Sweet was a $50,000 purchase from Book 2 by Chris Rutten, whose impressive Karaka Millions CV features Karaka Millions 2YO winner Vespa (NZ) (Elusive City) and Karaka Millions 3YO (1600m) hero Scott Base (NZ) (Dalghar), along with multiple Group One winner Yourdeel (NZ) (Dundeel), who placed in the Karaka Millions. Rutten also purchased fellow Karaka Millions placegetters Wolverine (NZ) (Tivaci), Touche (NZ) (Thorn Park), Kingsman (NZ) (Darci Brahma) and Avonallo (NZ) (Belardo).

“The jockey (Michael McNab) will have a bit of work to do from that gate,” Rutten said. “Horses have won from there before, so you never know. Roydon (Bergerson, trainer) just told me to get a good draw today, so he won’t be very happy with me at the moment.”

That extreme outside gate has in fact produced three previous winners of this race, including Probabeel (NZ) (Savabeel), who went on to win the Karaka Millions 3YO (1600m) before being a Group One winner in Australia at the ages of three, four and five. She was a two-time New Zealand Horse of the Year.

Vega For Luck (NZ) (Lucky Vega) has drawn three, with Sierra Leone (NZ) (Sun City) in four.

South Island visitor Miss Ziggy (NZ) (Brazen Beau) will jump from gate six, alongside the Australian raider Hello Romeo (NZ) (Hello Youmzain) in gate seven.

Gate nine went to Daylight Robbery (NZ) (Super Seth), who could be one of the biggest stories of the Karaka Millions this year. He was bought by his trainer Gavin Sharrock for just $10,500 from the National Online Yearling Sale.

“I’m still pinching myself that I got him,” Sharrock said on Wednesday. “I could never afford a yearling with that breeding under normal circumstances. Winning this race with him would be a dream come true.

“He ran really well at Ellerslie last time, where I thought he’d run fourth 100 metres from the finish but he really dug in for second. I think there’s improvement in him and he’s peaking at the right time.

“I’m not sure whether Too Sweet will push forward from her wide gate. We’ll see what happens. We’ve got a top rider in Warren Kennedy, and hopefully we have a bit of luck. It’s very exciting and I can’t believe it.”

The line-up is rounded out by In The Air (NZ) (Embellish) in gate 11, Abbakiss (Microphone) in 12, Romanoff (NZ) (Belardo) in 13 and Landlock (Merchant Navy) in 14.

The $1m TAB Karaka Millions 2YO will be run as the fourth race on a spectacular six-race card at Ellerslie on Saturday that carries total prize-money in excess of $5m. The scheduled start time for the Karaka Millions 2YO is 6.23pm.