Miki To Success earns his spot
A BREATHTAKING final lead-up win has earned class four-year-old Miki To Success one of few remaining slots in the world’s richest harness race.
Summit Bloodstock and Aaron Bain Racing today revealed they had pinned their hopes in Miki To Success to add to their fantastic record in the $2.1mil TAB Eureka at Menangle tomorrow (Saturday) week.
Summit and Bain won the inaugural 2023 TAB Eureka with a late move to partner with former star mare Encipher, then High Above ran a terrific third in their slot last year.
“Again, we’ve left it late but we’re glad we did,” Summit Bloodstock chief Jamie Durnberger-Smith said.
“As I’ve said before, we’re so close with Emma (Stewart) and Clayton (Tonkin), we will always take one of their horses, but they had so many good options this year.
“We’d probably narrowed it down to two or three a week or so back, but then Miki To Success came out and blew them away at Menangle last Saturday night and made us all stand up and take notice.”
Miki To Success, who won the Group 1 Vicbred final last season, returned to his best with a stunning 15.5m win in the Racenet Discovery Stakes last Saturday night. Despite doing all the work, he scorched a 1min52.5sec mile rate for 2300m.
It was 1.2sec faster than Don Hugo ran winning TAB Eureka at the same track and distance last year.
“He’d taken a bit of racing to get fit, but seeing is believing and if he runs up to that in the Eureka, he’ll be as hard to beat as any,” Durnberger-Smith said. “We’re absolutely pumped to get him.
Durnberger-Smith added the TAB Eureka and other new slot races were pivotal in building the confidence to grow and diversify Summit Bloodstock.
“It’s awesome, such a flagship race,” he said. “Winning that first one was out of this world.
“Since the inception of these slot races, we’ve started importing stallions and we’ll have 40 foals born this year out of mares we own.”
Miki To Success’ managing owner, Ray Sellwood, could hardly contain excitement after confirmation his four-year-old pacer had a berth in the TAB Eureka.
“This horse has been almost fifty years in the making for me,” he said. “I have been around the game for my entire life and bred this horse with my father. So, it has been a long time coming but the wait has been worthwhile, he is a very nice animal.
“I’ve always been of the opinion he’s good enough to contest the TAB Eureka. The (Emma) Stewart stable has done an amazing job with him.
“The phone started ringing after (he won) the Racenet Discovery Stakes, but we left the final decision to Emma (Stewart) and Clayton (Tonkin) and now we’re in it (the TAB Eureka).”
Miki To Success became the seventh confirmed runner in the 10-horse field. The others are: Bay Of Biscay (Soho Standardbreds slot), Fighter Command (Tasracing), Hesitate (John Singleton), Seathestars (Cordina Racing), Fate Awaits (Western Jewel) and Call To Order (Racing Queensland).
The three remaining slots – Team Zav, Kevin and Kay Seymour and TAB - must be filled by Monday and the barrier will be on Tuesday.
Miki To Success became the seventh confirmed runner in the 10-horse field.
PHOTO: Club Menangle/Pacepix