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Heavyweights Triumph In Karaka Million

3 minute read

The heavyweights of New Zealand racing and breeding joined forces to win the $1 million Karaka Million 2YO at Ellerslie on Saturday.

Probabeel
Probabeel Picture: Trish Dunell

The winner Probabeel represents Te Akau Racing, New Zealand’s leading training and syndication business, and is raced by Brendan and Jo Lindsay, the couple who completed their purchase of the famous Cambridge Stud from Sir Patrick Hogan only 10 months ago.

Te Akau principal David Ellis has been the leading buyer at Karaka every year for more than a decade and with his young trainer Jamie Richards has now sourced the Karaka Million 2YO winner three years in succession.

Richards trained 2017 winner Melody Belle (Commands) and 2018 winner Avantage (Fastnet Rock) in partnership with Steve Autridge with Probabeel (Savabeel) his first in his own right. All three have been ridden by Opie Bosson.

Probabeel (Savabeel x Far Fetched by Pins) wears the gold and black colours of the Lindsays, who are offering their first Karaka yearling draft as owners of Cambridge Stud this week.

Probabeel was a $380,000 purchase by Ellis at Karaka Book 1 last January and has now won three of her four career starts for $NZ580,500 prizemoney.

The Lindsays were the underbidders and while they missed out in the sale ring they were able to reach an agreement with Ellis after the sale to race the filly.

It was a Te Akau quinella on Saturday as Probabeel ran down her G2-winning stablemate Aotea Lad, also by Savabeel in yet another triumph for New Zealand’s champion sire.

Another Te Akau stablemate Yourdeel (Dundeel) dead-heated for third with the Stephen Marsh-trained Appellant (Showcasing).

Runner-up Aotea Lad was bought by Ellis for $NZ200,000 and has now had three starts for a win, two placings and $NZ246,150.

Yourdeel cost $NZ100,000 and has earned $NZ80,600 in his three-start career to date while Appellant was a $NZ30,000 purchase and has earned $NZ94,250.

Brendan Lindsay said the win was a special result for Cambridge Stud.

“It’s just a dream come true,” he said. “It is great for our business, great for our staff.

“It’s a great story. She’s bred in New Zealand, she’s trained by a great trainer and selected by a great judge in David Ellis.”

Matamata-based Richards was delighted for the Lindsays.

“I think this is awesome for them. Dave bought this filly last year and a couple of days later they bought her,” Richards said.

“They are a pretty important part of our industry now and the most exciting thing that has happened to this game in a long time.”

Bred by Waikato Stud’s Gary Chittick, Probabeel is the first foal out of the stakes-placed mare Far Fetched, a half-sister to the stakes winners Legless Veuve, Tootsie and Eudora), the dam of Savabeel’s G1 winner Savvy Coup.

Far Fetched died in 2017 without producing another live foal after Probabeel.
Racing and Sports

Ellerslie

Saturday, 26th January 2019

4
18:33
(local)

Karaka Million 2yo (LR)

Age: 2yo Type: OPEN
NZD $1,000,000
1200m TURF DEAD
4
18:33
(local)
NZD $1,000,000
1200m DEAD

Karaka Million 2yo (LR)

Age: 2yo Type: OPEN

This Listed Karaka Million 1200m juvenile race for specific Sales registered runners only saw the filly Probabeel embarrass her rivals in a race that was run suicidally up front for the first half of the race in particular. This six-race twilight meeting at Ellerslie, with five of the events at Blacktype, saw Australian breds win half the card ominously on a track presented as Dead4 so the times never got too quick. The winners and where they turned for home in race order were fourth (five-off the fence and half a length from the leader), seventh (on the fence and five lengths from the leader), second (three-off the fence and a neck from the leader), tenth (ten-wide (deepest turning in) and three lengths from the leader), eighth (four-off the fence and three lengths from the leader) and fifth (six-off the fence and half a length from the leader). No leader won all day/twilight strangely as a couple of races were very sedate contests but with this track over-watering they never seem to get it quite right regarding manmade track bias. Probabeel drew the outside gate of fourteen and settled down eleventh and then was tenth across the top before surging widest the run home and picking up and dropping her spent rivals to lead at the 250m. Her turn of foot was impressive and she clocked 1.09.90, which was the best 1200m time all day and that speaks volumes, to score by two and three-quarter lengths. Some balance however has to be shown as she had four stablemates in the race and two of them (Louis Luck and Challa) went absolutely berserk from the outset in front drag racing and the Australian raider Neptunes Spear was three wide and attacking for some inexplicable reason too. Louis Luck stopped like a pricked balloon to finish eleventh beaten almost seventeen lengths while the maiden Challa at $72 stopped ever worse and ran dead last beaten almost double that. Neptunes Spear was ridden by Jonathan Parkes and why it stayed wide attacking for so long defies belief and it finished tenth beaten sixteen lengths. To say this trio ensured the backrunners would dine out and feast at the finish is an understatement and with three wide draws finishing first, second and deadheated for third that seals the argument. Aotea Lad, a stablemate of the winner, settled sixth the outer as the three up front were going stupid emptying each others tanks and he moved closer wide near the home turn to fifth then surged into second at the 200m. He got windburn from the winner but she had 2kg less and he did more work in the running. Yourdeel ran a good third equal after racing midfield and wide and he surged earlier than most to hit the lead at the 350m. He was almost a length behind second at the line and gave trainer Jamie Richards a notable trifecta in the race and it should be noted again he had five runners in the race and the three wide gates ran one, two and third equal. The two other better drawn runners that were the fourth and fifth roughest of the quintet drag raced in front and both stopped badly. Appellant, another filly, came from ninth on settling and kept coming gamely to be fourth at the 100m and then deadheated for third on the line. Beauty Diva, the rank outsider at $110, raced fourth and then was seventh turning for home but boxed on for fifth beaten just under five lengths. Aalalune ran on very well for a maiden from last to finish sixth beaten five lengths and the filly has run in each start so far at Listed and G3 level. She would be odds on back to all maidens and is a winner in waiting and should be a force next season over the mile or more. Whiskey Neat the ruling favourite and a natural leader began awkwardly and then had to use some energy just to get up fifth and it mattered. The race caller when you watch the replay staggeringly says the race was a 'perfect dispatch' but that is simply not true and sheer predetermined piffle. Visually it is exposed and the official stipes report also demolishes the falsehood by saying not one or two but three runners were away awkwardly namely the clear favourite Whiskey Neat plus Blackrocksdetox and Exuberant, so it matters. Two other runners were in fact a tad tardy as well but not in the stipes report too worryingly namely Appellant (that deadheated for third) and Aalaalune (that came from last for a super sixth) so it really matters. Watch the replay yourself and see the reality but a race can never be a perfect start when the hotpot misses away, let alone four other runners, especially when it is a natural on pacer and leader as that is a standard no one should never ever accept. Whiskey Neat however was weak the run home and his bubble has well and truly burst plus at 1200m in sub 1:10 he seems suspect but until he leads up or races close from the outset as usual one cannot be absolutely sure. Blackrocksdetox ran on okay late from second last turning for home and should make a very nice 3yo plus he might still run at 1400m and a mile this season. Exuberant plugged on from twelfth turning for home but that being in the last five away saw her race done early though the winner was part of that quintet away albeit by design. Neptune's Speak was a gutbuster and total forget but it is a long way to come from Australia for a 2yo to be ridden like he was sitting wide attacking for the leads for so long and it must still grate on connections. Louis Luck was gassed being part of the drag racing trio from the outset while Tappy's One and Flaunting were outclassed and Challa was gassed beyond belief. The seven inside gates ran nowhere today showing the mad trio burning early for so long were a million to one each after just 400m using up that much energy and to think they were still at it across the top to near the home turn is mindboggling. Probabeel after such a dominant win in good time for the days/twilight racing was given a provisional Timeform rating of 107+ and that is very high and significant as the plus means she is likely to reach a bigger number with upside galore. The Karaka Million is open only to some Sales specific runners and New Zealand has two G1 juvenile races each season with both coming in the Autumn, so they are yet to have taken place. For some comparison only Bounding (110) after a Listed win is higher at this stage and then the likes of Dowager Queen was 106 after a Listed win and Super Easy and Manolo Blahnig were 106 too. Bounding would finish second in one of the two G1 juvenile races in New Zealand and win six more times including the G1 Railway in New Zealand and a G3 in Australia. She would also finish second at G2 behind Chautauqua (it was his fourth win this day and he would go on to win nine more races with six of them coming at G1). Super Easy was runner up in a Listed race and the winner, the filly Anabandana was given 104 but she won both G1 juvenile races later that season and attained a 110 figure then. Super Easy went to Singapore and won twelve races in a row then two more and was G1 placed third in the Krisflyer behind the Hong Kong powerhouse Lucky Nine. Dowager Queen was placed in one of the two G1 NZ 2yo races and would win once more only in Australia but also be placed at G1 twice (VRC Oaks behind Mosheen and Flight Stakes behind Streama). Manolo Blahniq would win three more times in Australia including once at Listed level earlier this month. Probabeel on this provisional rating is a G1 winner in waiting at least once if kept racing in New Zealand and could well do something not done in Australia before. Yes she was massively assisted by the crazy trio up front of which two were her stablemates but she put a gap on her other not gassed early rivals so quickly. Winners galore will come out of this race as many are bred to be milers or middle distance types and were running because the allure of a million dollar race was too hard to turn down. This should be the highest rated Karaka Million field ever and results should continue to both confirm that and embellish it. Probabeel should be put up as a clear favourite now to win the G1 1000 Guineas next Spring as a 3yo filly, if a wagering platform able to put up and take betting this early could operate properly. Connections should try for the holy grail and rather than demolish the two G1 2yo races in New Zealand try for the Golden Slipper. She can run in and win the G1 Sistema (an apt race with the owners of this filly Brendan and Jo Lindsay having sold that plastics container company for $660 million) and they also purchased Cambridge Stud so what a broodmare they have on their hands now. Aim bigger may well be the approach as Probabeel could win that G1 race at Ellerslie and then go for the G1 Golden Slipper and a slice of history two weeks later for the trainer and the owners. The highest Timeform rated Australian 2yo right now is 112 so 107+ is not a bridge too far at all and for a filly on an upward spiral that gap is very closable indeed. The Golden Slipper is the equine Everest for New Zealand trained juveniles as no one has achieved this peak yet but never may not be in the Lindsay vocabulary.



FP Silk Horse, Age & Sex
Sire & Dam
Jockey
Trainer
SP
WT
1st 11. PROBABEEL (NZ) 2yo F
SAVABEEL (AUS) - FAR FETCHED (NZ)
OPIE BOSSON
JAMIE RICHARDS
$4
54.5kg
B J Lindsay Mnzm & Mrs J E A Lindsay

Sales Information

2nd 1. AOTEA LAD (NZ) 2yo G
SAVABEEL (AUS) - CORSAGE (NZ)
JAMES MCDONALD
JAMIE RICHARDS
$4.5
56.5kg
Te Akau Love Life Syndicate (Mgr: Karyn Fenton-Ellis Mnzm)

Sales Information

3rd 5. MINI FORCE X (NZ) 2yo G
DUNDEEL (NZ) - MISS ZAPPER (AUS)
MATTHEW CAMERON
JAMIE RICHARDS
$13.8
56.5kg
HONG KONG BLOODSTOCK STABLE

Sales Information

3rd 10. APPELLANT (NZ) 2yo F
SHOWCASING (GB) - ROYAL APPELLANT (NZ)
TOMMY BERRY
STEPHEN MARSH
$19
55kg
Don Pye & Dame Wendy Pye, H Goodwin, Haunui Bloodstock Ltd, T Lee, R Tang & M Wong

Sales Information

5th 12. BEAUTY DIVA (NZ) 2yo F
SHOWCASING (GB) - KETCHME (NZ)
WINONA COSTIN
CLINTON ISDALE
$110.3
54.5kg

Sales Information

6th 13. AALAALUNE (NZ) 2yo F
RELIABLE MAN (GB) - VEVA GIRL (AUS)
SHAUN M MC KAY
JACOB MCKAY
$55.3
54.5kg

Sales Information

7th 2. WHISKEY NEAT (AUS) 2yo G
DENMAN (AUS) - OUIJA (AUS)
LEITH INNES
TONY PIKE
$3.1
56.5kg

Sales Information

8th 9. BLACKROCKSDETOX (NZ) 2yo G
RIP VAN WINKLE (IRE) - DOMINIQUE (NZ)
VINNIE COLGAN
BRUCE WALLACE & ALLAN PEARD
$54.6
56.5kg

Sales Information

9th 4. EXUBERANT (NZ) 2yo C
SAVABEEL (AUS) - MERRILY (NZ)
JASON WADDELL
STEPHEN MARSH
$15.8
56.5kg

Sales Information

10th 3. NEPTUNE'S SPEAR (NZ) 2yo C
SUPER EASY (NZ) - HESTOLEMYROSES (AUS)
JOHNATHON PARKES
LIAM BIRCHLEY
$20.3
56.5kg

Sales Information

11th 6. LOUIS LUCK (AUS) 2yo G
DISSIDENT (AUS) - MY OPTION (USA)
SHARIF RUSOF
JAMIE RICHARDS
$18
56.5kg

Sales Information

12th 8. TAPPY'S ONE (NZ) 2yo G
PROISIR (AUS) - TAPPY LEE (NZ)
SAMANTHA COLLETT
STEPHEN MCKEE
$53.1
56.5kg

Sales Information

13th 14. FLAUNTING (NZ) 2yo F
SHOWCASING (GB) - ACAPELA (NZ)
SAM SPRATT
DAVID GREENE
$27.9
54.5kg

Sales Information

14th 7. CHALLA (AUS) 2yo G
DISSIDENT (AUS) - ARE THERE ANY (AUS)
JONATHAN RIDDELL
JAMIE RICHARDS
$72.3
56.5kg

Sales Information

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