The colts’ and fillies’ divisions of the final lead-up races to next Saturday’s Magic Millions 2yo Classic produced strong statements as race experience came to the fore with wins by Itchintogo and Shiki.
Tony Gollan-trained colt Itchintogo ($1.60F) was dominant in the Aquis Gold Nugget (1100m), powering away to score by an impressive 4½ lengths, while the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained Shiki ($3.40) continued her upward trend by taking out the Gold Pearl (1100m) for fillies.
Following those victories, Itchintogo is rated a $11 chance in the Magic Millions 2yo Classic (1200m), while Shiki sits as the $6 second favourite behind Warwoven at $2.
“I wanted to have him in this after he won the other day,” Gollan said, referring to Itchintogo’s Doomben win on December 6.
“Bringing him here gets that freshness off him then we’ll give him an easy week and give ourselves a chance to give it a shake next week.”
“A lot of horses have won the week before then won the race (2yo Classic). The stats on the Saturday are just as good.”
While both camps are planning a quick back-up, Adrian Bott said Shiki has continued to progress since her fourth placing at Randwick over 1000 metres on December 20.
“She did a few things wrong first-up,” Bott said.
“We know she’s explosive and has a good turn-of-foot but we just had to harness it and do it the right way which is obviously important going into the big grand final next week.
“She had a good couple of weeks and arrived really well. This week, she really started to relax and did what we wanted to see in her work.
“We had this particular set-up in mind for her which has been quite successful. We wanted her to have a look at the track here.
“She’ll potter around for the week and hopefully she’ll be nice and fresh for next week.”
Markets are open with leading Australian betting sites for the Magic Millions 2yo Classic, giving punters plenty of options ahead of the Gold Coast feature.
Itchintogo, a son of Sun City, was purchased for $60,000 at the 2025 Gold Coast Yearling Sale, while Shiki was secured for $420,000.
The post Shiki, Itchintogo in Magic Millions Classic lead-up wins first appeared on Just Horse Racing.
