Karrakatta Plate 2024 Tips, News, Winners and Past Results

The 1200 metre Group 2 Karrakatta Plate is run during April at Ascot Racecourse in South Australia. Two-year-old colts and fillies race under set weight conditions as part of the Perth Racing Autumn Carnival.

Perth Racing puts up $500,00 in prize money, with the winner cashing in for $274,000. That prize went to Super Smink for 2023; she was obviously much faster than a regular Smink, judging from her win by more than two lengths.

 

 

Karrakatta Plate Race Details

Date: 20/4/24

Time: TBA

Racecourse: Ascot

Race Distance: 1200m

Conditions: TBA

Prize Money: $500,000

How To Bet On The Karrakatta Plate

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Karrakatta Plate Betting Tips

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When Is The Karrakatta Plate: 20/4/24

What Time Is The Karrakatta Plate: TBA

Where Is The Karrakatta Plate: Ascot Racecourse

How To Live Stream The Karrakatta Plate

To live stream the Karrakatta Plate, TAB Account Holders can watch the race live.

More Details About The Karrakatta Plate

She won her most recent jump in April 2023 in the WA Sires’ Produce Stakes. She has won three and placed in two from five total jumps.

Set weight conditions in an open gender race such as the Karrakatta Plate find fillies carrying 55.5 kg while the colts and geldings are given 57.5 kg.

The race was originally run in December, but was moved to April, possibly to capture the interest of racing fans weaning from the uber-races at Randwick to explore the markets of Western Australia.

The Karrakatta Plate has been described as Pert Racing’s version of the Golden Slipper Stakes. Without doubt, the race is the premier two-year-old race for the fine Sandgropers of Western Australia.

History of the Karrakatta Plate

Unexpectedly to those of us who sometimes express jaundice, the Karrakatta Plate has remained the name for the race since its inception in 1900. Other entities have grafted their name onto the race, a recent example being Amelia Park winery, but that is as far as name modifications have gone.

An internet search of ‘karakatta’ placed the Karrakatta Cemetery as one of the top results, with YouTube videos and websites devoted to the history and preservation of the cemetery.

By the way, it is used for burying people.

There was an Irish filly foaled in 2017 named Karrakatta, but she has not lived up to the name.

After jumping for the first time in 1900, the race was not held in 1901. The only other times in the extensive history of the race that saw it abandoned were 1943 and 1993.

The trip for the race was 1000 metres through 1971, or more accurately, about 1000 metres, when the furlong system was in vogue. Metrication made it 1000 actual metres in 1972 and 1980 saw the trip stretched to the current 1200 metres.

In 2005, the race was moved to Belmont Park for the one and only time.

The race grade for the Karrakatta Plate was Principal through 1978. Group 2 was granted in 1979 and the race managed to gain and hold Group 1 status from 1985 through 1998 before being graded at Group 2 since 1999.

Venue for the Karrakatta Plate

The race has always been held at Perth’s main venue, Ascot Racecourse, with the exception of 2005, when it was necessary to stage the race at Belmont Park Racecourse. The first racing was held there in 1848. The course is a tri-oval with a circumference of 2000 metres.

Modern Ascot has well-drained turf and pristine facilities that belie the old moniker of Ascot as the ‘grand old lady’ of Australian Racecourses. The 300 metre finish features an incline that experts claim is the most severe test of a stayer’s ability.

Ascot to us is almost iconic when we think about the racers streaming down the back straight with the Swan River in the background; it is one of our favourite sights in all of racing.

Ascot is currently home to three Group 1 races – The Kingston Town Classic, the Railway Stakes and the Winterbottom Stakes. There are six Group 2 and nine Group 3 races.

For 1200 metre races. A chute on the far side of the course leads onto the back straight, after which a long turn leads onto the home straight for the finish line in front of the stands near the south end of the facility.

Racing History of the Karrakatta Plate

While we appreciate juvenile races, when we examine the racing history of a two-year-old race, we are looking for gallopers that went on to greater achievements further along in their careers. Prize money totals and major race wins are part of it, as are any that went on to success as breeders.

The first winner of the Karrakatta Plate in 1900 was named Willie.

Records from that era show an anonymous line on the side beyond his dam Lady Peyton. Willie was a gelding, which was not all that common in the late 1800s.

The race was not held in 1901. When it resumed in 1902, the winner was San Toy.

Similar to other Western Australian gallopers from that era, large chunks of San Toy ancestry are missing. We know he was a gelding. We know he was a racehorse.

We could go on reporting on Karrakatta Plate winners from the early era, but experience has taught us that this is a futile expenditure of time, so we are going to move forward in time to find something that resembles actual history.

We discovered to our joy, the 1908 winner Jolly Beggar.

When we say we seek two-year-olds that went on to big racing accomplishments, Jolly Beggar fits the bill precisely.

His 40 jumps produced 12 wins and 13 showings. As for his earnings, we suspect they would have been impressive, but we do not have a figure, a figure that would appear paltry by modern standards.

Jolly Beggar he followed in 1909 with first in the Western Australian Derby. He won the WATC version of the All-Aged Stakes in 1910, the same year he won the Perth Cup. Sent east, he won the 1913 Doncaster Handicap before running second in the AJC Newmarket Handicap.

He returned in 1913 to win the AJC All-Aged Stakes. The following year supplied wins in the VRC C. M. Lloyd Stakes and VATC St. George Stakes. Still racing in 1915, Jolly Beggar won the WATC December Stakes and placed third in the Newmarket Handicap.

His foal-getting lasted a long time, but he never really got anything. Jolly Beggar was aged 27 years when he died in 1933.

His half brother Lucky Beggar would win in 1912. The shared sire was Great Britain’s Ayr Laddie. Jolly Beggar’s dam Lady Trenville was dam to Lucky Beggar dam Trenville’s Daughter.

Lucky Beggar’s luck was not as good as Jolly Beggar’s was. Lucky Beggar seems to have won the WATC All-Aged Stakes in 1914. We found no progeny record for Lucky Beggar, so his DNA went begging.

The next legitimate notable winner past Jolly Beggar was the 1918 winner Eurythmic.

Some little effort reveals that Eurythmic followed the Karrakatta Plate with 22 additional wins in stakes races and the 1921 Melbourne Stakes win was against Violoncello (1922 Cox Plate/1921 Caulfield Cup).

Eurythmic made 47 jumps for 31 wins, although he was dead heated in one of those wins, prompting some to put the win number at 30.5.

Wins in the 1921 Sydney Cup and the 1920 Caulfield Cup cemented Eurythmic’s legacy. That legacy was boosted by three wins in the Memsie Stakes, three in the Caulfield Stakes and two in the Melbourne Stakes.

Even with the secure knowledge that great racers such as Eurythmic often are not the best at supplying progeny, Eurythmic would be considered a letdown. He sired four fillies only.

The Karrakatta Plate delivered a dead heat in 1922 between His Double and Honneur.

His Double was the son of Jolly Beggar. We always derive satisfaction from like-father-like-son accounts. His Double lists only the Karrakatta Plate for good wins. Honneur was a filly that won other WATC races in 1924.

If we were to quiz on racing trivia and ask which Jolly Beggar progeny won the race in 1924, the correct response would be Jolly Odd.

Jolly Odd won the WATC St. Leger Stakes in 1926 and the WATC Railway Stakes in 1927.

We encountered some fascinating racing history when we jumped ahead in Karrakatta Plate history to find the 1959 winner Autumn Vista.

She was followed in 1960 by Carol Vista and the 1961 winner Astra Vista.

All three were mares by an Irish sire named Port Vista.

Autumn Vista and Asta Vista shared Kistion for their dam, while Carol Vista was out of Blankit.

None of the three Vista fillies were great racers. Astra Vista supplied six foals. Neither of the other two left records of any offspring.

The winner in 1967 was Matrice daughter La Trice.

Following that win, she made additional impact by winning the WA Champion Fillies Stakes and the Railway Stakes in 1968.

La Trice won the Winterbottom Stakes in 1970 and 1971, with wins in the Lee Steere Stakes coming in 1971 and 1972.

Her stud output was just one named foal.

Vain Prince by Vain from Kulali was the Karrakatta Plate winner in 1973.

With his talent and pedigree, Vain Prince went east to seek fortune, winning the 1975 VRC Standish Handicap and running second in the 1975 AJC June Stakes. Between 1977 and 1989, he sired six colts and 25 fillies, none of which seem to have left any lasting impression.

We thought we might have another connection to the might Vain in the 1984 winner Vain Marceau, but despite an impressive pedigree that did include a connection to Star Kingdom, Vain did not appear anywhere in Vain Marceau’s lines.

The only significant win we found was the Karrakatta Plate; the win was made more significant in that Vain Marceau beat Rory’s Jester.

The 1990 winner Umatilla was a better New Zealand type. Everything on both sides of his ancestry table is either U.S. or Canadian, with a smattering of Great Britain.

He was profitable, making 38 jumps for 7 wins and 16 placings, earning good money at the time of $683,000.

Umatilla was near to Schillaci on three occasions, but never ahead. Umatilla two better races in 1991, but it was placing in major Group 1 races that accounted for most of his revenue.

He was one of the best when it came to foal-getting. The list is very long and it is headed by four offspring that won above $1 million racing in Australia. From there, those that won between $1 million on the high side and $100,000 on the low side numbered a remarkable 55. This stallion was more of a bunny rabbit than thoroughbred when it came to breeding.

One of Umitilla’s offspring was the 1997 Karrakatta Plate winner Umah.

That was the last time the race was run in December before moving to the current slot on the WA racing calendar.

Umah won in one of the 14 years when winning the race resulted in a Group 1 win. Umah did not win as many races and only about half the money that Umatilla won, but he acquitted himself adequately with nine wins and five placings from 40 jumps. At stud, he was far below his dad Umatilla in quantity and quality.

The 1998 winner Bomber Bill was one of the better types to win.

This gelding made 98 jumps for 23 wins and 11 placings for racing that supplied $1.8 million in prize money.

Bomber Bill had a U.S. sire and the U.S. Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew as grandsire. By the time he won the Karrakatta Plate, Bomber Bill had three good WA wins to his credit. He won the Group 1 Australia Stakes (William Reid Stakes) at Moonee Valley in 2001. His next Group 1 win came in 2003, when he won The Goodwood. He won another five Group graded races.

Canny Lad was sire to the 2006 winner Canny Jack.

His good wins were confined to Western Australia and he was gelded, so no further passing along of Canny Lad genes.

His form line, which would look better if not for the good lines he presented, was 19 jumps for three wins and seven placings for $412,000.

The 2015 winner Lucky Street won $814,000 from just 12 jumps for six wins and two placings. His grand damsire was Umatilla and there were great stallions spread throughout the lines of Lucky Street.

The Karrakatta Plate was back to Group 2 by this time and in the only Group 1 jump we found for Lucky Street, he ran seventh in the Winterbottom Stakes, about four lengths behind Buffering.

Amelia's Jewel was the winner in 2022.

This 2019 filly with the northern hemisphere lines is listed as active. Her recent jumps produced a win in the Group 2 W. H. Stock Stakes, followed by ninth in the Group 1 Toorak Handicap at Caulfield in October of 2023.

She has won above $2.7 million from 12 jumps for nine wins and two placings.

The Karrakatta Plate has produced many good racers and breeders. Many of the winners have extensive northern hemisphere lines, which is an element of Western Australian racing.

Many winners went on to solid racing careers as older horses and it was interesting to find winners turning into breeders that begat more Karrakatta Plate winners.

karrakatta Plate Past Winners