The Soultaker Races into Karaka Million Contention

Karaka graduate The Soultaker (NZ) (Iffraaj) has put himself in contention for the $1 million Karaka Million after his victory on Saturday in the $50,000 Listed Murdoch Newell Stakes (1100m) at Avondale.

The Soultaker (NZ) wins the Listed Murdoch Newell Stakes. Photo courtesy of Trish Dunell.

Earning his first victory has propelled two-year-old The Soultaker into second position on the Karaka Million Leaderboard having won total prizemoney of $34,590.

Sitting at the top of the Leaderboard is Tennessee (NZ) (Per Incanto) with $39,060 in stakes money and in third is What Choux Want (NZ) (Jimmy Choux) with $23,435 in prizemoney. To view the Karaka Million Leaderboard, click here.

Trained at Ruakaka by Donna Logan and Chris Gibbs, The Soultaker had just one previous start, four weeks earlier at Ellerslie Racecourse, where he finished second by a short neck.

“We’re thrilled to bits with him and we’ll be looking at the Karaka Million now,” commented Logan. “He just keeps improving, he’s a beauty.”

A quick start from the inside barrier of 1 for jockey Opie Bosson saw The Soultaker go straight to the lead in the early stages. Running freely entering the home turn, the son of Iffraaj led all of the way to win by a short neck over late challenger Manolo Blahniq (NZ) (Jimmy Choux) who finished in second place with Cavallucci (NZ) (Showcasing) in third.

Logan purchased The Soultaker at the 2014 Karaka Select Sale for $50,000 from Seaton Park and races him with G D Lemon, I Pearson, D K Tay and breeders George and Maryanne Simon.

The son of last season’s leading three-year-old sire in New Zealand Iffraaj is out of winning mare Miranda Miss (Reset). His second dam, Marie Claire (O’Reilly), was a stakes winner and runner-up in the Group 1 Captain Cook Stakes.

Graduates of Karaka won three of the four feature races at Avondale on Saturday with Vavasour (NZ) (Redoute’s Choice) winning the Group 3 Chep Pallecon Solutions Counties Cup and Soriano (NZ) (Savabeel) scoring a second stakes victory within seven days in the Group 2 Auckland Thoroughbred Breeders Stakes.