New Blood for Karaka Million

Last weekend’s results saw three new nominees in the Order of Entry for the 2011 Karaka Million.  Savabill claimed his first points for New Zealand’s richest 2YO race when he won the Belvedere Farm Juvenile (1000m) at Te Rapa.

Savabill (Savabeel) is trained by John Sargent trained was too classy for his rivals, breaking his maiden by more than a length.  Fellow Karaka Million nominees Smoke ‘N’ Mirrors (Fast ‘N’ Famous), Energetic Warrior (Perfectly Ready) and Ellatain (Captain Rio) all earned points behind the winner.

Bespoke (Pins) staked his claims for the Ellerslie feature when he won the Midas Two-Year-Old (800m) at Riccarton.  The Jason Bridgman trained youngster scored on debut to earn maximum points ahead of Dollario (Captain Rio), The Aftershock (Nadeem) and Power Climber (Encosta De Lago).

Australian based colt Isle be Ready leads the Order of Entry after finishing second in the Listed NSW Breeders’ Plate at Randwick on Saturday.  The son of Perfectly Ready is trained by Bede Murray who has crossed the Tasman to win Kiwi features in the past.

Interest in the Karaka 3YO Mile is also building with Encosta Diablo (Encosta de Lago) winning the Canterbury Guineas Trial at Riccarton.  Other horses to come into contention last Saturday were the G2 NZ Bloodstock Insurance Hawke’s Bay Guineas placegetters Icepin (Pins) and Maradona (Mr. Nancho).

Full details of the Karaka Million and Karaka 3YO Mile can be found on the New Zealand Bloodstock website www.nzb.co.nz.