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The ultimate staying test for the fillies is upon us and the Kiwis have sent their best to raid the ATC Australian Oaks. Join us here on The Roar from 2.30pm AEST for full coverage and live blog of the race.
Throughout the season, the fillies competition today have been asked to take a back seat to the boom crop of three-year-olds who have commanded headlines with their dominant performances.
Although today’s field is not the strongest in the race’s history, there are a few good stories in the making.
Dear Demi will be attempting to pull of the VRC Oaks – ATC Oaks double but her form this campaign has been a touch worrying.
This has not dissuaded the punters, who believe Clarry Conners who has been persisting this as her target throughout the season.
Unlike most runners in this field, Dear Demi is a proven stayer over this distance.
Identical to her last campaign, she has only won one race leading into today so her form can be forgiven a little.
She ran fifth behind Norzita, Longport and Habibbi a fortnight ago in the Storm Queen but it was a very respectable run after finding herself at the tail of the field entering the straight.
Despite running well in the Storm Queen where she fought all the way to the post with Norzita, Longport has not been given much respect here with good reason.
By Casino Prince, she is not known for his staying blood and Longport’s staying power in the Storm Queen was a surprise to just about everyone.
Out of that race, Habibi has harnessed the most attention after making ground on the fence, a task few achieved on the day, to finish third. Claiming favouritism according to the bookies, Habibi is one of two New Zealand raiders.
She has won six of her eight starts, two of which have come in distances over 2000m.
It’s been an extremely long campaign for the New Zealand Derby winner who has not had a proper spell beyond a six week break before resuming again.
It’s a big ask for fillies to run the testing campaigns that Habibi has but I said the same thing a fortnight ago and she ran 2000m looking quite fresh.
The second of the New Zealand raiders is More Than Sacred who won the New Zealand Oaks in her last start.
Similarly to Habibi, she has been through the entire New Zealand season and will be lining up in her seventh start this preparation today.
We have not seen her run in Australia before and none of her form lines up with Habibi so she looks to be the smokey of the race as a proven stayer.
There has been a lot of attention throughout the week on Royal Descent who had never been expected to take part in the Oaks but after progressing through the lower ranks, she took out the Group 3 Adrian Knox Stakes last week.
Stepping up to Group 1 class for the first time, the short seven day back up may pose a problem for the Redoute’s Choice filly that lacks the Group 1 experience others in the field possess.
This race has a habit of throwing up strange results but based on the handful of horses that are tried and tested at the 2400m distance, there won’t be a blowout result.
Tips
Alfred Chan
1. Dear Demi
2. More Than Sacred
3. Habibi
4. Gondokoro
Justin Cinque
1. Habibi
2. Summerbliss
3. Longport
4. Dear Demi
Cameron Rose
1. Dear Demi
2. Longport
3. Habibi
4. More Than Sacred
Andrew Hawkins
1. More Than Sacred
2. Summerbliss
3. Dear Demi
4. Habibi
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