Otaki horseman Johno Benner has a good association with the Karaka Millions, and he could have another serious contender on his hands for January’s showpiece.
He won the 2014 edition of the Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m) with Vespa and the inaugural Karaka Millions 3YO Classic (1600m) with Scott Base in 2018, when training in partnership with Hollie Wynyard, and exciting juvenile De Armas put herself in a strong position to qualify for the former race when winning on debut at her home track on Friday.
After winning her 600m trial at Foxton last week by 10 lengths, she was backed into a $1.70 favourite in the Vets On Riverbank Two-Year-Old (800m) and won accordingly.
She jumped away well under jockey Kelly Myers and settled outside leader Spellbound. The pair matched stride for stride for much of the journey before De Armas showed her class in the final 200m when dashing away to score by 4-3/4 lengths.
“She was very good,” Benner said. “She has done a lot in a short time, she is definitely pretty smart.
“She has always shown plenty. It is hard to line the trial form up, we could only go off what we had seen with all of the other horses there. She definitely showed what we hoped she could and has the action of a filly that is going to appreciate a bit of a drier surface and a bit further again. It is all looking positive.”
Benner was also buoyed by her impeccable barrier manners, having been forced to wait in the starting stalls for several minutes while the subsequently late-scratched Singletary failed to load.
“She has got above average ability, but she has also got a very good brain, which helps these young ones go a long way,” he said.
Benner purchased the daughter of Ardrossan out of Elsdon Park’s 2024 New Zealand Bloodstock Online Yearling Sale on Gavelhouse Plus for $16,000, and he is pleased she is fulfilling the potential he saw in her last April.
“I like the Ardrossans,” he said. “She is a beautifully balanced, athletic filly and she just moved so well. She had a great head and eye and had that look of a sharp filly.
“I did a bit of study and saw the dam won her first couple of starts and showed a lot, so I thought you can’t make them for that money. I was rapt to get her for $16,000, and being a filly, there are a lot of upsides to that. I am glad I kept hitting bid.”
De Armas has already exceeded he purchase price in earnings, having banked $23,000 for Friday’s win, which will go a long way in qualifying her for the TAB Karaka Millions 2YO at Ellerslie on January 24.
“Something that I have learned over the years is that if you are chasing it (Karaka Million start), you are probably doing the wrong thing,” Benner said. “They are either not good enough to be there or you are pushing a horse that shouldn’t be pushed. The good ones take care of it for you.
“$23,000 should get her in, but we have obviously got a fair bit of water to go under the bridge before January, but it is a good start.”
De Armas will now have a freshen-up before chasing valuable black-type in the Gr.2 Happy Hire Wakefield Stakes (1100m) prior to Christmas at Awapuni.
“She is going straight to the paddock and she will have a few weeks off and all going well she will target the Wakefield at Awapuni on the 20th of December,” Benner said. “We will possibly look at one more run at Ellerslie before the Millions, but we will just take it as it comes.”
While he has tasted success in the Karaka Millions, Benner is under no illusions of the task ahead, but is confident he has the filly to give it a good shake.
“She is up there with him (Vespa, prior winner) and we have thought that for a fair while, just because of natural ability,” Benner said.
“I feel it is a lot harder now because I think the competition is a lot stiffer than it was back in 2014 for obvious reasons, Te Akau being one of them.
“You have got to have a serious horse to compete, but she definitely ticks a lot of the boxes that are required.” – LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
