Group One performance is a recurring theme in the $1.5m TAB Karaka Millions 3YO (1600m), which will be run for the ninth time at Ellerslie this Saturday.
Four of the eight previous winners of the race have been Group One winners – Probabeel (NZ) (Savabeel) in 2020, Aegon (NZ) (Sacred Falls) in 2021, Prowess (NZ) (Proisir) in 2023 and Orchestral (NZ) (Savabeel) in 2024.
The field for Saturday’s 2026 edition of the race features three horses that have already won at the elite level – Well Written (Written Tycoon), La Dorada (NZ) (Super Seth) and Romanoff (NZ) (Belardo) – while Affirmative Action (Yes Yes Yes) and Lollapalooza (NZ) (El Roca) have been Group One-placed.
Among this high-quality line-up of 14 horses, eight were purchased from Book 1, five from Book 2, and Well Written came from the National Online Yearling Sale.
The average purchase price for this year’s field is $181,250. Across the eight previous runnings of the race, the average purchase price for the winner has been $334,375.
The highest-priced yearling in this year’s Karaka Millions 3YO field is He Who Dares (NZ) (Snitzel), who was bought by Te Akau Racing’s David Ellis for $825,000 from Haunui Farm’s draft in Book 1 of Karaka 2024.
The lowest-priced purchase, Lollapalooza, also came from Haunui Farm’s draft and was bought by Richardson Racing and Social Racing for $30,000. She has turned that into $298,575 in stakes.
Incredibly, Haunui Farm has five graduates among the 14-horse field for the Karaka Millions 3YO – He Who Dares, Lollapalooza, Romanoff, War Princess (NZ) (U S Navy Flag) and Chilling Out (NZ) (Savabeel). They are the only vendor with multiple runners in this year’s race.
Ballymore Stables, Paul Moroney Bloodstock and Catheryne Bruggeman were the purchasers of three horses in Karaka Millions 3YO contention – Romanoff, Affirmative Action and Now Not Never (NZ) (Shocking).
David Ellis, who purchased the 2020 winner Probabeel and the 2025 winner Damask Rose (NZ) (Savabeel), is the other buyer with multiple runners in this year’s race. He bought He Who Dares and La Dorada (NZ) Super Seth).
The $1.5m TAB Karaka Millions 3YO will be run as the fifth race on a spectacular six-race card at Ellerslie on Saturday that carries total prize-money in excess of $4m. The scheduled start time for the Karaka Millions 2YO is 6.53pm.
