Warwick Farm trained colt Pierata maintained his stranglehold on the betting after drawing barrier one in the $2m Magic Millions 3yo Guineas (1400m) at the Gold Coast on Saturday.
Melbourne Cup winning jockey Corey Brown, above, will ride the favourite Pierata in the Magic Millions 3yo Guineas at the Gold Coast. Photo by Ultimate Racing Photos.
Bookies at Ladbrokes.com.au have the Greg Hickman trainer Pierata as the $2.40 favourite for the Magic Millions 3yo Guineas, well ahead of his nearest rival Sasso Corbaro at $6 while Goodfella and Wild Heart are the only other runners under the $10 mark at $9.50 each.
Pierata draw the pole position in the final field of sixteen plus two emergencies and will be ridden again by Melbourne Cup winning jockey Corey Brown who has been aboard the Pierro colt for six of his seven starts.
Hickman has campaigned Pierata in Queensland in the lead up to the $10 million Magic Millions Race Day with Brown partnering the colt to two wins and an unlucky second all at Doomben.
Wins in the $100,000 Rupert Plate (1200m) on December 2 and in the Group 3 $200,000 Vo Rogue Plate (1350m) on December 30 have made Pierata eligible to collected the $500,000 bonus if he can win Magic Millions 3yo Guineas.
The Pierro colt’s other run north of the border this campaign saw him finish an unlucky second to Saturday’s rival Whypeeo in the Listed $100,000 Gold Edition Plate (1200m) on December 17.
The $500,000 3yo Summer Crown Bonus was on offer for any three year old that won three of the four designated races over the Queensland Summer Carnival, that includes the Magic Millions 3yo Guineas.
Second favourite Sasso Corbaro is a winner of three of her five race starts and drew barrier fourteen in the original draw but will jump from twelve if both the emergencies fail to gain a start in the Magic Millions 3yo Guineas.
Damien Oliver takes over the reins from Blake Shinn who rode the Kris Lees trained Sasso Carbaro to victory last start in a 1300m BenchMark 76 Handicap at Randwick on December 30.
The Team Hawkes trained Wild Heart drew nicely at barrier three and is coming off a last start win in the $100,000 Wyong Magic Millions 3yo & 4yo Stakes (1200m) while Bjorn Baker’s Snitzel colt Goodfella will jump from barrier six and will clash with Pierata again after finishing third in the Vo Rogue Plate.
