In the first full year of his training career, young Cambridge horseman Glen Harvey has two fillies qualified for the $1m DoubleTree by Hilton Karaka Million 2YO (1200m) at Ellerslie on 23 January 2021.
An impressive victory by Brix (NZ) (Sweynesse) in Saturday’s $50,000 Listed FastTrack Insurance 2YO Stakes (1100m) has pushed the filly up to third position on the order of entry. Bought for $45,000 from Book 2 of Karaka 2020, Brix has earned $28,700 in her four-start career to date.
Brix leapfrogged her stablemate Miss Ipenema (NZ) (Sacred Falls), who was unplaced on Saturday but is safely in the Karaka Million field with $18,925 in stakes after an impressive victory at Te Rapa earlier this month. She sits in fourth place on the order of entry.
“I was confident Brix was 100% ready to go on Saturday,” Harvey said. “It was the first time she’s drawn a good gate, and Sam gave her a beautiful ride. It was a pretty special feeling, and I’m thrilled for a lot of first-time owners who are involved with the filly.
“The wide barrier really cost Miss Ipenema, who was on a hiding to nothing with a lot of speed inside her.
“Both my horses will have a freshen up now, because they have had a big prep so far.
“They will both target the Karaka Million, so we will tip them out and then bring them back for one run before we tackle that one.”
The top two positions on the order of entry still belong to the first and second placegetters in the Listed Welcome Stakes (1000m) at Riccarton – Avonallo (NZ) (Belardo), who has earned $33,750, and Follow Your Dreams (NZ) (Contributer), who has banked $32,250.
Meanwhile, the order of entry for the $1m Karaka Million 3YO Classic (1600m) is the same as last week, with Group One winners Aegon (NZ) (Sacred Falls) and Kahma Lass (NZ) (Darci Brahma) at the top of the table.
There could be some movement behind that pair over the coming days, with the Group Three Lucia Valentina Wellington Stakes (1600m) to be run at Otaki on Thursday and the Listed Trevor Eagle Memorial (1500m) at Ellerslie on Saturday.
Thursday’s Otaki races could also affect the Karaka Million 2YO picture, with the supporting programme featuring a $22,500 race for two-year-olds over 1100 metres.
View the Karaka Million 2YO and 3YO Order of Entry here.
