Who will be Crowned NZB’s Filly of the Year?

The final showdown in NZB’s 40th Filly of the Year Series, Saturday’s $300,000 Group 1 Wellfield NZ Oaks (2400m) at Trentham, has attracted a star field of fillies who are all in search of their first Group 1 victory.

The Group 1 NZ Oaks is the final leg in New Zealand Bloodstock’s 10 race Filly of the Year Series and despite the absence of NZ Derby winner Habibi (Ekraar) and current Series leader Fix (Iffraaj), the Oaks has retained a strong field courtesy of an excellent crop of three-year-old fillies.

The overall winner of the Series will earn her connections $50,000 in bonus cheques including $10,000 for her breeder, $10,000 for her trainer and $30,000 for her owners and its Fix who currently leads the Series with 27.5 points, an 8.5 point margin over the second placed Soriano.

However with Fix not contesting the Oaks, she has left the door ajar for Soriano to claim the Series but the daughter of Savabeel will need to win the race to collect the winner’s 12 Series points if she is to take the Series victory.

Soriano will have to be at her very best to win the Oaks as she will meet a tough field headed by High Fashion (O’Reilly) who couldn’t have been more impressive when winning the last leg of the Series, the Group 3 Lowland Stakes (2100m), by two lengths.

The same can be said for More Than Sacred (More Than Ready) who produced a game performance to win her last start in the Group 3 Sunline Vase (2100m). The second placed Rays Girl (Savabeel) was beaten only a short neck in the Group 3 and is also among the main chances in the Oaks, as is The Oaks Stud owned Aurora Lights (Darci Brahma) who finished third with a good rails run.

The Oaks will have two daughters of Darci Brahma in the race, the second being Blanket Bay who held on for fifth after leading the field in the Sunline Vase, while Pencarrow Stud will saddle his third runner in Siciliani who placed over 2100 metres at Te Rapa at her last start. The Oaks and Darci Brahma combined to win last year’s NZ Oaks with Artistic.

O’Reilly sired the race trifecta in the Lowland Stakes with his daughters, the Waikato Stud raced Chandelier, and Emerald Queen, finishing behind High Fashion and they too have good claims in the race as they have been shaping up as Oaks fillies for some time.

Decorah (Pins) is another that is right in the race and finished just 2.1 lengths from rival More Than Sacred in the Sunline Vase and was second to Lucky Country (Darci Brahma) in the NZB Insurance Oaks Prelude two starts ago.

The Cambridge Stud raced Abidewithme (Redoute’s Choice) has been freshened for the Oaks with her last start back in early February in the Group 2 Sir Tristram Fillies Classic while Sultry Assassin (Keeper) comes into the race after being unplaced in the Sunline Vase after losing a shoe in transit.

Perfectly Ready will have two runners in the race, Sworntoperfection and Perfect Start, and both will be looking for better luck in running after their last races where they finished unplaced.

Grace O'Malley (Chinese Dragon) and Jagersfontein (Volksraad) complete the field and raced well to finish second and fourth respectively in the Stella Artois 2100 at Ellerslie on Derby Day at their last starts behind Serpent (Chinese Dragon).

To view the current points table for the Series, click here.

The winner of the Group 1 New Zealand Oaks will earn 12 Series Points with second earning 7 points and third 3.5 points.