Another smart prospect for Ardrossan

Promising young Waikato Stud-based sire Ardrossan enjoyed further success on Saturday afternoon at Te Rapa where his son Maracatu opened his winning account over 1100 metres to book his spot in the Karaka Million.

He was the subject of heavy support after giving a strong debut account of himself on the course last month, finishing fourth off a wide gate behind subsequent Listed Challenge Stakes winner Velocious.

The Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson-trained Maracatu had the benefit of the inside barrier today and he broke well to sit in the trail before rounding off strongly along the fence in the hands of Warren Kennedy.

“He’s really tractable and travelled well and it was good to see him take that gap in the straight,” Bergerson said.

“He’ll learn a lot from that and is an exciting horse going forward.

“He is doing everything very naturally, so we’ll work back from the Karaka Million now and see whether he goes to the Eclipse Stakes (G2, 1200m), we’ll wait and see how he pulls up first.”

A seventh individual winner for Ardrossan, Maracatu was a $190,000 Karaka purchase for Te Akau’s David Ellis and is out of the stakes-placed Sepoy mare Cortado who also has a yearling filly by the Redoute’s Choice stallion.