The big winner at Ascot on Saturday will be the winner of the $5m Quokka … and, while that is a highly competitive race possibly offering a thrilling finish, a supporting feature could well upstage the Quokka as the race of the day.
The $500,000 Karrakatta Plate, which is contested over 1200m, will showcase a clash of the best two-year-olds in the West over a 1200m trip … and the best involved here are a pretty potent bunch of performers.
The unbeaten Aurum Belle and the formidable Maria Lucia are likely to be the main focus of attention.
Aurum Belle, the Neville Parnham trained Snitzel filly, is three from three having already returned $221,940 on her owners $725,000 investment and the first prize of $274,000 on Saturday, if she were to remain unbeaten, would place another huge entry in the credit column of the ledger.
It is no surprise that Aurum Belle is the betting sites current race favourite (at $2.80) with her last two wins coming in feature race company … in the Listed Supremacy and then in the Group 3 Gimcrack.
It is also no surprise that the Sean and Jake Casey trained Maria Lucia is right on the favourite’s heels in the betting at $3.80, having pushed Aurum Belle all the way to the line in the Gimcrack, a race in which both of these runners entered defending unbeaten records.
The distance between them there was 0,48 lengths and these two fillies will again meet at level weights … but there is a different test in play as the Karrakatta will be the first time that Aurum Belle will race beyond 1100m whereas Maria Lucia already has a win over Saturday’s 1200m trip behind her name.
Maria Lucia also has a soft barrier draw … in at number five … while Aurum Belle is out wide in the number sixteen barrier gate. Aurum Belle does have good gate speed, which will go a long way to overcoming her draw disadvantage, but, nevertheless, jumping from there does complicate her task.
Whether that impacts on Aurum Belle’s ability to finish her race off as strongly as she has done in the past over the longer trip is a point in question, particularly as you would expect Maria Lucia to again be right there, applying pressure when it matters most.
Brad Parnham rides Aurum Belle. Chris Parnham rides Maria Lucia … two genuine contenders for the win, but watch out for the old master, ‘The Wizard’ Willie Pike who could have the ammunition to shoot down both of the main fancies.
Pike rides Beatty, who, like Arum Belle, is unbeaten in three starts … also with two feature race successes boosting his CV. Beatty won the Crystal Slipper and the Listed Perth Stakes in his last two starts so has been well primed for action here by the Sean and Jake Casey training partnership. He should give a bold showing.
At $5.50, Beatty is the only runner bar the two main fancies quoted at odds of under $18.
Four visiting jockeys have rides in the sixteen-strong Karrakatta field.
Tyler Schiller rides He’s A Machino ($18), Tommy Berry rides Snow Monkey ($26), John Allen rides Lady Torque ($41) and Logan Bates rides Rok ‘N Rom ($61).
