Boxing Day Races: Star duo Legarto and Wild Night set up match in a million

Legarto gets up to win the Eight Carat Classic at Pukekohe yesterday. Photo / Trish Dunell

Two heart-stopping victories today have set up the Karaka Million night clash racing officials craved.

But for all the brilliance of Legarto and Wild Night in their three-year-old wins at Pukekohe, they both showed enough vulnerability to give the other camp cause for optimism.

Legarto had to be dazzling to win the $150,000 Eight Carat Classic after being eight lengths off tearaway leader Wessex at the top of the long Pukekohe straight, her winning hopes even looking forlorn at the 200m mark when she was a long way in arrears and still spinning her wheels to get up to top speed.

Then she went boom, channelling her superstar stablemate Levante, to rush straight past the leaders and win with an air of arrogance, going away at the line.

Jockey Ryan Elliot admitted there were nerves when he looked up at the 500m mark and saw the leaders so far in front.

“I thought we were following the right horse and then the leaders seemed an awfully long way away,” said Elliot. “So I’ll admit I was worried but she does things other horses can’t do. She shouldn’t have been able to do what we did but she is that special.”

Legarto now heads straight to the $1 million Karaka Mile on January 21 and waiting for her will be Wild Night, who carried the topweight to beat better horses in the Uncle Remus Stakes, predominantly for the three-year-old boys.

Like Legarto’s win, it was hardly a painless watch, as while Wild Night was given a good run midfield by Opie Bosson, two of his major rivals got momentum up on him at the 300m mark, and neither Sacred Satono nor The Intimidator buckled, meaning Wild Night had to really stretch to beat them.

Stretch he did and he was also going away at the line, Bosson punching the air, his arm adorned in a black armband in memory of training legend Colin Jillings, who passed away last week.

Jillings was not only the trainer of Uncle Remus, who the race was named after, but was a close friend and mentor of Te Akau boss David Ellis, the man who purchased and manages Wild Night.

Both Legarto and Wild Night should improve further for the Karaka Mile and will be better for their look around Pukekohe.

While their clash will be anything but a two-horse race, it will serve as an ideal promotional vehicle for Karaka Million night away from Ellerslie, which is being renovated, and the three-year-old race could even outshine the juvenile race, as it did two years ago when Aegon beat Amarelinha in one of the great Karaka Million meeting moments.

“I know she is very good but I think this fella is running sectionals which are about the same as Legarto,” said Bosson of Wild Night. “It is going to be a great race, something for everybody to look forward to.”

TAB bookies were clearly impressed by Legarto’s display in the last 100m, as she tightened from $1.90 into $1.60 for the clash, with Wild Night also coming in to $3, while Sacred Satono is now on a third line getting out to $8.