Peter McKay holds a special place in the history of the TAB Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m), and the Matamata trainer set himself up for another shot at the $1m feature when Aquila Veloce (Capitalist) won the $45,000 Speight’s 2YO (1100m) at Ellerslie on Saturday.
McKay won the very first running of the Karaka Millions in 2008, producing $80,000 purchase Vincent Mangano (NZ) (No Excuse Needed) to win from the extreme outside gate of 14.
The stable also had a second placing with Antonio Lombardo (NZ) (Pins), who was runner-up behind Fort Lincoln (Charge Forward) in 2011.
Now McKay is on his way back to the Millions again, this time with Aquila Veloce, who he owns with his wife Kim and trains in partnership with son Shaun.
Aquila Veloce was offered by Riversley Park in Book 1 of Karaka 2026, where Peter and Kim McKay bought him for $95,000.
An eye-catching second placegetter on debut behind Zanardi (NZ) (Spirit Of Boom) at Hastings on October 10, Aquila Veloce took a big step forward in her second start at Ellerslie on Saturday.
Ridden by Sam Collett, Aquila Veloce jumped smartly from the starting gates and immediately took up the lead. That was where she stayed, setting a solid pace out in front and moving three lengths clear of her closest challenger coming up to the home turn.
Aquila Veloce kept going strongly all the way down the straight, going on to win by half a length from the strong-finishing Princess Grazi (Capitalist).
“That was really good,” Peter McKay said. “When I saw her at the sales, I just looked at her and thought ‘speed, speed’. I was a bit nervous trying to buy her, but after we got her, Sam Beatson (Riversley Park) came and said well done. He thought some of the big guns would be after her because of the pedigree she has. But we managed to buy her for $95,000.
“She has been wanting to do things a bit too quickly, she tried to go too hard in her trials. So it’s been a matter of just trying to make her go a little bit slower. She’s a filly that I really like, and I think she’ll go on with it.”
With two starts for a win, a placing and $37,900 in stakes, Aquila Veloce has almost guaranteed herself a place in the field for the TAB Karaka Millions 2YO at Ellerslie on January 23.
“She’ll either go to the Counties Challenge Stakes (Group Three, 1100m) or the Wakefield Challenge Stakes (Group Two, 1100m) now,” McKay said. “I’d favour the Counties race – it would be nice to stick to going the Ellerslie way around as we build towards the Karaka Millions.”
Saturday’s win saw Aquila Veloce move into the top spot on the Karaka Millions order of entry, taking a narrow lead over Zanardi with $37,375.
However, there was another new name on top of the table just a couple of hours later. The Paul Shailer-trained Iconic Scenes (NZ) (Better Than Ready) scored a debut victory at Eagle Farm, earning A$48,800.
Three other Australian-trained runners are also prominent on the order of entry – Nonu (NZ) (Anamoe) with A$22,400, Jenni In Rome (NZ) (Sword Of State) with A$14,000 and Ghost Gum (NZ) (Redwood) with A$8,400.
Super Accord (NZ) (Super Seth) sits in seventh spot, having lifted his earnings to $8,225 with a third placing at Riccarton on Saturday.
Don Guiseppe (NZ) (Ardrossan), another two-year-old from the McKay stable, is next with $6,525, while first-starter Queen Jacqui (Jacquinot) added her name to the table with $4,050 from a third placing behind Aquila Veloce on Saturday.
The next opportunity for New Zealand two-year-olds to earn crucial prize-money to qualify for the Karaka Millions 2YO will be at Te Rapa on November 7, where an 1100-metre race carries a stake of $40,000.
.jpg)
