De Armas has looked special, winning both her last starts, including at Pukekohe on November 22. Photo / Kenton Wright
Few people know more about winning the Karaka Millions than Johno Benner.
So when the Ōtaki trainer says barrier 10 could actually help De Armas in the $1 million 2-year-old race at Ellerslie on Saturday, it pays to listen.
At first glance, the unbeaten filly looks to have been the loser from Wednesday morning’s public barrier draw as she has drawn in the outside half of the field, while key rivals Kinnaird (barrier 2), Dream Roca (1) and Torture (5) have drawn handier over the 1200m.
If the emergencies come out, De Armas will start from barrier 9 – but her draw still saw her drift slightly to $5 while Kinnaird opened the post-draw favourite at $4, as he looks to continue Te Akau’s quite staggering run in our richest 2-year-old race.
But Benner, who also has Butler Cabin, who has drawn barrier 7 in the mega-money sprint, said he was not phased by De Armas’ draw – and he should know.
He became the first trainer to win both the KM 2-year-old and 3-year-old races when Scott Base won the first $1m Three-Year-Old race in 2018, four years after Vespa won the Two-Year-Old for Benner.
Benner told the Herald he was initially hoping for something around barrier 6-8 for her “but I am fine with 10″.
“There is speed down low so that could create pressure, which we’d be happy not to be part of.
“But from out there, she is still fast enough to get across most of them and it will be up to Kelly [Myers, jockey] whether that means heading toward the front or going across and getting a spot handy.
“One thing you usually see in the Two-Year-Old [race] is they button off in the middle stages so you need to be handy and she is fast enough to get there.”
Benner says the rain which has pelted down this week in Auckland could also mean De Armas’s wider draw turns into an advantage, even if Ellerslie doesn’t get as affected as other tracks by rain.
“We won the Millions with Vespa on a wet night and it might have a few similarities this week, albeit it is a harder race to win now.”
The forecast in Auckland is for showers at worst on Saturday, and if that proves right, with the meeting having a 4.24pm start, the StrathAyr surface will have plenty of time to drain.
Being a two-time Karaka Millions winner gave Benner the confidence to look after De Armas following her last-start Pukekohe win on November 22, resisting the temptation to chase stake money or race fitness in the last two months.
“We had a plan and stuck to it and I am happy with how that has worked,” he said.
“She will be spot-on and we are going on confident, even though it is a good field.”
While Kinnaird was $4 straight after the draw, he looks the most likely shortener in the next few days, with his draw and the Te Akau/Opie Bosson combination.
He will also have the blinkers added for Saturday, after working well in them.
For all the big-name stables and Australian visitors his pair are up against on Saturday, Benner said a local filly may be the surprise package of the race.
“I like Andrew Forsman’s filly Stromlinien a bit,” he said.
“There was a lot to like about the way she won on debut and she might be behind the main bunch, stalking and hitting the line hard.”
Stromlinien won on debut at Ellerslie just 10 days ago and is rated at $21 by the TAB bookies with premiership leader Craig Grylls aboard.
While the 2-year-old race has a lot of moving parts with four horses between $4 and $5.50 at the head of the market, the draw for the 3-year-old race ended any hope Well Written might drift much before Saturday.
Trainer Stephen Marsh wanted barrier 1 to 5 and got barrier 3 with the New Zealand 1000 Guineas winner, who is unbeaten in four starts.
She was rock solid at $1.50 to win the $1.5m race and will carry a fortune of multi-bets into what will be the penultimate event on the six-race card.
Alabama Lass won a moral victory in the draw for the $700,000 Sistema Railway when she drew barrier 5, but more importantly drew inside Australian raiders Arkansaw Kid (barrier 8) and Jigsaw (10).
That was enough to nudge the Matamata mare into $3.80 favouritism, while the Australian pair moved out slightly to $5 for the Group 1 which will round out the night.
The barrier draw fthe $1,040,000 Elsdon Park Aotearoa Classic did little to shed light on the likely winner, with Victorian mare Knobelas the loose $5 favourite.
What: One of New Zealand’s glamour race meetings.
Where: Ellerslie, Auckland.
When: Saturday, first race 4.24pm
Highlights: $1.5m Karaka Millions Three-Year-Old, $1m Karaka Millions Two-Year-Old, $1,040,000 Elsdon Park Aotearoa Classic, $700,000 Sistema Railway, $250,000 Cambridge Stud Almanzor Trophy, $100,000 HKJC World Pool Jo Giles Stakes.
Can I go? Yes, tickets still available at www.ellerslie.co.nz
Markets: Available on TAB and betcha websites and apps.
After party: Starts at 8pm, goes until late.
Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald’s Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world’s biggest horse racing carnivals.