Zac Lloyd entrusted with helping Open Secret overcome horror draw in Inglis Millennium

John Thompson’s fillies Open Secret and Deep Affection will jump from the two outside gates in the Inglis Millennium.

Trainer John Thompson will put his faith in the reliable hands of Zac Lloyd in a bid to help unbeaten filly Open Secret overcome a horror draw in Saturday’s $2 million Inglis Millennium (1100m) at Royal Randwick.

Thompson must have inadvertently walked under a ladder during the week after his two contenders for the lucrative sprint drew the two outside gates on Wednesday.

Open Secret will jump one from the outside in the final field of 16 runners while stablemate Deep Affection will be to her outside.

• PUNT LIKE A PRO: Become a Racenet iQ member and get expert tips – with fully transparent return on investment statistics – from Racenet’s team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section. SUBSCRIBE NOW!

Juveniles have been able to overcome wide draws to win three of the six Inglis Millenniums to date.

Castelvecchio jumped from barrier 13 in the inaugural edition of the race in 2019 while Learning To Fly (2023) and Fully Lit (2024) prevailed from gates 15 and 14 respectively.

Thompson will Lloyd to weave some magic on Open Secret.

“I will leave it up to Zac,” Thompson said.

“She will be in the first half of the field. Where he gets to I guess will depend on few things and how she jumps.

“I think she has definitely come on with fitness and all those sort of things.

“It seems to have switched on a little bit as well and the 1100m will suit her without a doubt.”

Open Secret, a $14 chance in Inglis Millennium betting, is the clear top pick of Thompson’s duo after her strong all the way win on debut over 1000m at Randwick last month.

Open Secret takes out the Randwick opener giving Zac Lloyd a win to start the day.pic.twitter.com/M3QjzO1eLT

— bet365 Australia (@bet365_aus) January 25, 2025

• Ray & Duff: Why Inglis Millennium is worth the Price Tag

Deep Affection struggled to match her stablemate in the same race, finishing more than five lengths off her while also running 10th in the Inglis Nursery at her first start.

Reece Jones will do the steering from the wide draw.

“We will definitely have to ride for luck,” Thompson said.

“She has made good improvement and I expect she will have to run a much improved race.”

Deep Affection will be one of the cheapest fillies to line up in the Inglis Millennium after being snapped up for $20,000 at last year’s Inglis Classic Yearling Sale with the same sale beginning on Sunday.

She is the $201 outsider of the Inglis Millennium field.

Thompson’s leading two-year-old Bel Merci continued to prepare for a crack at the Golden Slipper with her second trial this autumn at Rosehill Gardens on Monday.

Several Golden Slipper hopefuls here.

1 - North England (2c Farnan x Our Belisa) for @GaiWaterhouse1. Flying. Has disappeared from @inglis_sales Millennium markets. Firmed in Slipper markets after this.

2 - Bel Merci (2f Extreme Choice x Bel Mer)
3 - Pallaton (2c Wootton… pic.twitter.com/dEH82BXQyl

— Breednet (@BreednetNews) February 2, 2025

• ‘Not here for the picnic’: Trainer eyes Inglis windfall with $28,000 cheapie

The Group 3 Gimcrack Stakes winner finished 3-1/2 lengths off North England in a 900m heat but was laying in down over the concluding stages.

“She pulled up fine and will trial again,” Thompson said.

“I don’t know (why she was laying in), it was a bit of a surprise and she hasn’t done anything like that before.

“It was her first time ever away from Randwick so maybe she got a little bit lost.”

Back on home turf on Saturday and Thompson will have four runners back and expects Emmadella will produce a much-improved showing in the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale 9-11 Feb Benchmark 78 (1600m).

The daughter of All Too Hard was a winner two starts ago at the same track and trip before struggling in soft going at Rosehill Gardens last time.

Emmadella is ready to bounce back. Picture: Jeremy Ng / Getty Images

• Gai’s Golden call: ‘This colt will win the Slipper’

“Back on top of the ground is what she needs,” Thompson said.

“With the wet track the other day, she got way too far back and out of the race.”

Bundeena ($23) is ready to fire third-up in the Mostyncopper Benchmark 78 Handicap (1200m) but will need to overcome a tricky draw in barrier 14.

“He has won from barrier 12 before so that gives us a little bit of positive thoughts but he is going well and goes well for Chad (Schofield) so it’s good to have him back on,” Thompson added.

American Starlet was an acceptor in the Midway Handicap but lined up at Canterbury Park on Friday night instead.

Thompson is coming off a midweek double after Impunity and Opal Fields both prevailed at Warwick Farm on Wednesday.

Originally published as Zac Lloyd entrusted with helping Open Secret overcome horror draw in Inglis Millennium