2023 Inglis Millennium preview & betting tips | February 11

The Inglis Millennium (1100m) is a Restricted Listed contest for the two-year-old graduates of Inglis sales and provides a staggering $2,000,000 in prizemoney. In recent years it has produced a nice stepping stone for future Group 1 targets such as the Blue Diamond Stakes and Golden Slipper.

We’ve got a full field of 16 runners (plus four emergencies) engaged this Saturday at Randwick, and it looks an extremely competitive edition of the race. Plenty of different form-lines are converging on the second-richest two-year-old race on the calendar, with some gallopers on return after a short break on the way to the autumn features.

Inglis Millennium odds

Widden Stakes winner Learning To Fly ($3.20) has opened favourite with online bookmakers despite drawing a horror barrier 19. James McDonald’s mount Blanc De Blanc is on the second line of betting at $6, while we have the Ciaron Maher & David Eustace-trained Kundalini at $7.50 after a bold effort behind Golden Slipper hopeful Don Corleone. Facile and Lazzago round out the gallopers in single figures, while you can get double-figure odds for every other runner.

Inglis Millennium speedmap analysis

There’s a lot of unknowns in the Inglis Millennium; however, one thing we know for sure is that they won’t be hanging around in this one. There is plenty of speed horses in this race with some of the key chances drawn wide. Market elect Learning To Fly went forward in the Widden Stakes, but from barrier 19 we think Chad Schofield will choose to go back and find cover.

Mexico has been trialling strongly and will look to ping the lids, as will Coincide drawn to his outside. Perfect Proposal draws barrier two and will be looking to beat them all to the inside rail on the tempo as well. Arkansaw Kid, Saltaire and Blanc De Blanc have all drawn wide, so expect them all to try to get cover somewhere mid-field and put themselves in the race turning for home.

Kundalini looks to get the perfect run in transit here from barrier five and should get the opportunity to find the one-by-one with Jason Collett on board. The same goes for a few others that will utilise the positive draws, with Dorothy Gail and last-start winner Lazzago looking to slot in behind the expected hot tempo.

Inglis Millennium form

In a wide-open edition of the Inglis Millennium, we’ve got to be backing a few runners. All that said, Blanc De Blanc goes on top for us in this outstanding contest. She’s trained out of the Michael Freedman yard and we saw this trainer-jockey combination do the job last weekend with Madeira Sunrise taking out the Lonhro Plate. She’s had two career starts matching motors with race rivals Facile and Saltaire in the Inglis Nursery on December 10, and prior to that got the better of Saltaire in a small field at Newcastle on November 27. Her run in the Inglis Nursery was sublime, forced to sit four wide throughout the 1000m and still chased home nicely to find the minor money. She had rights to drop out of it with a lack of tempo on that occasion, seeing Facile cling on for second while Saltaire got the saloon passage behind the leaders. Blanc De Blanc gets James McDonald back aboard after an eye-catching trial chasing home Helldancer at Rosehill. The obvious query is the barrier, but we get the world’s best hoop to try and overcome it.

Kundalini has major claims in a race like this after running a clear second behind Don Corleone on January 21. She sat outside the lead on that occasion and was able to kick away from Coincide quite comfortably before the eventual winner stormed over the top of the leaders to win in style. This I Am Invincible filly was beaten 0.8 lengths but cleared out on the rest of the field by almost three lengths back to third, so it should rate relatively well on Saturday. They’ve drawn a perfect barrier to find a stalking position just in behind the tempo and should get the first crack at them turning for home. She has a fitness edge over some of the key rivals, and at this price, we’ve got to be having a bet on her as well.

Arkansaw Kid is massive overs and can run a bold race despite a tricky barrier draw. We think he might be the best of the boys in the race, so the $18 on offer with online betting sites warrants attention. His win at Mooney Valley on October 22 had plenty of merit when sitting wide throughout the 1000m contest in Heavy conditions to chase down race rival Mexico and score by a half-length on the winning post. The win was good and his trial since at Warwick Farm on January 30 suggests the Ben & JD Hayes stable have this colt out of Harry Angle ready to be more than just making up the numbers. Rachel King will need to produce something special from the gate, but we can’t let him go around without something on.

Learning To Fly deserves all the respect in the world and is a fair favourite in the Inglis Millennium. We just couldn’t get her that short in this race from the barrier. The first-up win in the Widden Stakes was outstanding and she will only improve from that; however, the Golden Slipper looks the genuine grand final, and although she can clearly win this race with any luck, she misses our top three here.

2023 Inglis Millennium selections & best bets

• 11

  BLANC DE BLANC

• 14

  KUNDALINI

• 1

  ARKANSAW KID

• 8

  LEARNING TO FLY

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