FEATURE PREVIEWS: AUSTRALASIAN OAKS

Track: Morphettville | Distance: 2000m | Type: G1 SWP 3YO fillies | Rail Position: True | Condition: Good 4 | Prizemoney: $1million

The Australian Oaks is a South Australian Group 1 horse race for three-year-old fillies. The race us run over a distance of 2000 metres and is set weights event. The race gained Group 1 status in 1983 just one year after its inception in 1982. The race is usually the first Group 1 race of the Adelaide Autumn Racing Carnival but this season it will have the Group 1 Robert Sangster racing on the same day. Champion trainers Bart Cummings and Lee Freedman have won the race four times while champion hoop Damien Oliver has also won it four times in the saddle. Some key winners of the race include Mannerism (1991) Zarita (2008) Delicacy (2015) Princess Jenni (2019). Interstate trainers completely dominate this race winning all but one edition since the year 2000. In 2013 The South Australian Phillip Stokes-trained Maybe Discreet won the race for veteran Western Australia/South Australian hoop Dominic Tourneur.

The Australasian Oaks is a set weights 2000m race for 3 year old fillies. The race started as a Group 3 event in 1982 but was soon upgraded to Group 1 status a year later and remained that ever since. The race this year has a prize pool for 502k. Hall of fame trainers Lee Freedman and Bart Cummings share the most success in the race with 4 wins each while champion jockey Damien Oliver is the premier jockey in the race with 4 win also. Probably the most famous horse to win the race was 1991 winner Mannerism who went on to win 5 group ones including the 1992 Caulfield Cup. The favourite generally has a good record in the race winning the race 17 times in the races 40 year history.

Positivity looks the likely leader from gate 8 while Infinity Imperial and Vibrant Sun are likely to kick up and hold a forward position. Serasana looks likely to go forward from the nice barrier draw too. A couple off the more fancied runners in Mollyknickers and Concello are likely to go back in running and hope for a genuine tempo.
Key Runners:

13. Into You
2. Wings Of Song
7. Mollyknickers
11. Concello

Really tough race to figure out this one with form lines flying in from all over the Country and abroad. Prepared to risk the NZ visitors as they do most of their best stuff on rain affected tracks and this race will be right on top of the ground. Going to chase some value with Into You here. Is coming off a BM70 defeat but the horse got to the front and floated and just didn’t want to go past Way Up High late. I think the horse and jockey would have both learned from that. Had no luck 3 back in the Group 2 Kewney stakes when 6th. The 3rd horse that day was Mollyknickers who she arguably should have finished in-front of. That horse is almost paying 4x less in the market so hard not to have something on with the price discrepancy. Should appreciate a bigger field here and some good speed. Worth a nibble at the monster odds. How can you not be taken aback from what Wings Of Song did in the traditional lead up race of the Group 3 Auraria Stakes when she just idled up to them like Winx and put them away in just a few bounds. She’s just a dead set winner and hard to see her not in the finish here. Mollyknickers continues to be hammered by bad barriers but she also continues to race well regardless. Got back and hit the line strongly over the 1800m vs Wings Of Song. She should have no issues with the step up in trip as she is by Pierro. If she can get some 3 wide moving line cover she could be all over them late. In a powerful yard. Concello was specked at a price and ran a flashing light 3rd in the Grouo 3 Adrian Knox Stakes at Randwick. Sydney form is always good form whenever they travel horses and gets the services of the worlds best jockey in James McDonald.

BACK (WIN): Into You for 0.5 units win and 1.5 units place
BACK (WIN): Wings Of Song for 2 units
BACK (WIN): Mollyknickers for 1 unit