Wayne Carey part-owner of Ballarat-bound two-year-old Nothing Silly with Melbourne Cup-winning owner Brae Sokolski

A smart two-year-old colt purchased by Melbourne Cup-winning owner Brae Sokolski and part-owned by AFL great Wayne Carey will race at Ballarat this Saturday.

Wayne Carey is a part-owner of unbeaten two-year-old colt Nothing Silly, who will race in the $250,000 Magic Millions Classic at Ballarat. Picture: AAP

AFL great Wayne Carey will keep a close eye on Saturday $250,000 Magic Millions 2YO Classic at Ballarat.

Carey is a part-owner of the Kevin Corstens-trained Nothing Silly, a debut winner of a Bendigo maiden last month.

Carey’s mate, Melbourne Cup-winning owner Brae Sokolski, bought the colt to race with his old school friends, which also include former Essendon and North Melbourne player Julian Kirzner.

Nothing Silly’s trainer Kevin Corstens said the youngster’s owners previously raced horse with him with success a few years ago.

“The other owners raced a horse called Kaplumpich with me and they asked Brae to buy them a horse and gave him a budget,” Corstens said.

“They asked Wayne to be in it and the rest is history.”

Sokolski paid $50,000 for Nothing Silly at the Gold Coast Magic Millions Yearling Sale earlier this year.

The sum was a fraction of what the purchase price of the likes of Caulfield Cup winner Incentivise and recent acquisition, Melbourne Cup third placegetter Spanish Mission.

Sokolski has invested bigger sums into other two-year-old buys under his Yes Bloodstock banner, but Corstens said Nothing Silly was the success story of the group.

“It was funny. He said to me when the horse won, it’s the cheapest two-year-old he’s ever bought but it’s the only one that has won a race,” Corstens said.

Nothing Silly won on debut at Bendigo in October. Picture: Racing Photos via Getty Images

Nothing Silly is the only previous winner among the 13 entries for Saturday’s rich contest, which will guarantee the winner a shot at the $2m Gold Coast Magic Millions 2YO Classic in January.

Corstens knows two-year-olds can go off the boil quickly, making Nothing Silly’s first preparation a day-to-day proposition, but said the colt was doing everything right at this stage.

“To me, he’s a genuine two-year-old,” Corstens said.

“He’s as close to a decent two-year-old that I’ve have in the stable.

“Every day is new for a two-year-old, so I just play them by ear.

“If they’re happy and going nicely we just keep poking along with them.”

The Ballarat Magic Millions 2YO Classic was run over the reverse way of going until this year.

Corstens said he wouldn’t have minded if the race remained the Clockwise Classic but was just as happy to race on the spacious Ballarat circuit on Saturday.

“There’s always the hope that they can go to Queensland or to Sydney later on so it would have been good to go the reverse way, but I’m not really fussed,” Corstens said.

“Ballarat is a nice big track like Bendigo so I thought it would suit him and it sets him up well to get into a race like the Magic Millions if he’s good enough.”

Originally published as Wayne Carey part-owner of Ballarat-bound two-year-old Nothing Silly with Melbourne Cup-winning owner Brae Sokolski