10 October 2022 | Tim Walker
A 23-strong group of fillies have been nominated for Friday night’s WA Oaks (2536m) at Gloucester Park, headlined by multiple Group 1 winner Wonderful To Fly and Friday night winner Im Themightylucy.
Im Themightylucy strengthened Oaks claims with a stylish 3.1m win on Friday night, her second win in the past week.
The filly was superbly driven by Maddison Brown on Friday night, who stormed over the top of her rivals in the concluding stages.
Wonderful To Fly has been the all in TABtouch favourite for the Oaks, but that grip loosened with her second consecutive defeat on Friday night.
The Shane Young-trained filly had to work hard to find the front and was left vulnerable in the last 100m of the race.
Despite the fourth placing, Young said he wasn’t disappointed by Wonderful To Fly’s effort and was confident she could bounce back in the Oaks.
“We burned up hard early and just got a little bit tired late,” Young told The Trots WA on Friday.
“She went good, but I was obviously hoping for better.
“We might just have to drive her a bit differently and see what happens in the draw in the Oaks.”
Little Darling continued her consistent form since returning from a spell last month, finishing second behind Im Themightylucy.
The Barry Howlett-trained filly finished second to Wonderful To Fly in last month’s Westbred Classic, before a fourth placing in the Daintys Daughter Classic.
Daintys Daughter Classic winner Sovrana also looms as a key Oaks player, rounding out her preparations with a third placing on Friday.
The Greg and Skye Bond stable will be hoping In The Spotlight can add to their list of the WA Oaks winners, having enjoyed success with Millwood Meg (2010) and Dodolicious (2016).
Meanwhile, Magnificent Storm’s possible Inter Dominion campaign is also set to roll on at Gloucester Park this Friday, with the five-year-old a chance to back-up following his super Mount Eden Sprint win.
Hampton Banner, Diego, Jumpingjackmac and To Fast To Serious are also among the nominations for this week’s Free-For-All.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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