Trainer Chris Munce hopes history will remain on his side when Ours To Keep chases the biggest ever pay day in Queensland racing.
Ours To Keep’s win in the Group Three B J McLachlan Stakes on Saturday moved him to the fourth line of TAB betting at $8 in the Magic Millions Two-Year-Old Classic on January 14 at the Gold Coast.
First prize in the Classic is $1.2 million but Ours To Keep is also eligible for a $500,000 bonus if he can complete the summer two-year-old triple crown.
The bonus system is sponsored by UBET who have already forked out $1 million in bonus payments to connections of Winning Rupert who took the three-year-old triple crown and Most important who won the sprint series.
It would give Ours To Keep $1.7 million which would be the largest amount ever pocketed by a winner in Queensland.
Ours To Keep has won two legs of the summer crown in the Phelan Ready Stakes and McLachlan Stakes.
Munce said it was obviously good to have the bonus but his mind would be on other things in the lead-up to the race.
“It is exciting but it is what racing is all about. I will be a wreck for the next two weeks,” Munce said.
Ours To Keep will have history on his side with two of his main market rivals going in with just one run under their belts.
They are the Chris Waller-trained From Within, the new Classic favourite at $4.80 and Invincible Star ($7) from the Gai Waterhoise and Adrian Bott stable.
No horse in 20 years has won the Millions at their second start.
Munce said he wasn’t worrying about statistics in the lead-up to the race.
“All I know is my horse is fit and tough. He is something special and we will be in with a shot,” he said.
Ours To Keep, who cost just $28,000, was the only horse by Seidnazar, a Blue Diamond placegetter as a two-year-old, to go through the 2016 Magic Millions sale.
