Abbey Marie has broken through for a maiden win at the highest level in only her third career start this afternoon; producing a perfectly-timed sprint to win the featured Group 1 Australasian Oaks (2000m) at Morphettville this afternoon.
Abbey Marie finished over the top of Silent Sedition to win the Australasian Oaks. Photo by: Jenny Barnes
Abbey Marie had not raced over a distance greater than 1440m leading into the Australasian Oaks, but interestingly figured as outright second-favourite to win the filliesâ feature this afternoon.
Jumping from the gates well, jockey Luke Nolen elected to take a position within the capacity field as Jacquiâs Joy, Bengal Cat and Lopartega took up the early running.
Rounding onto the straight back and with plenty to do, Nolen found a gap between runners with 400m to run and a clear line to the finish; asking for an extra effort late and greeted with a particularly scintillating turn of foot to pip race favourite Silent Sedition on the line.
Trialling well in the lead-up to her competitive debut, Abbey Marie immediately stamped herself as a filly to follow when taking out the Cove Hotel Maiden (1300m) at Ladbrokes Park by a length on March 23rd.
Caught wide in the JRA BM70 (1440m) from the outside at Caulfield a fortnight ago, the Redouteâs Choice filly perhaps gave her best indication of what was to follow when charging clear and savaging the line for a near-two length success, regardless of the horror run in transit.
Silent Sedition remained on the top line of Australasian Oaks betting all week and appeared to have the race sewn-up with 200m to run, before being pipped on the line.
The War Chant filly contested a far-more tradition lead-up to this afternoonâs feature race at Morphettville; taking out the Listed Bendigo Guineas (1400m) on March 19th and running second in a talent-rich Sandown minor over a mile on April 9th before winning the Group 3 Auraria Stakes (1800m) a fortnight ago.
Local hope Câest Beau La Vie produced a typically gutsy performance to finish third in the Australasian Oaks; beating smart David Hayes and Tom Dabernig runner Sacred Eye by half a length.
Punters who backed Abbey Marie with leading online bookie Ladbrokes.com.au have been paid out on a generous quote of $7 for success this afternoon.
2016 Australasian Oaks Results
| Finish | No. | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Margin | Bar. | Weight | Starting Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 | ABBEY MARIE | Michael Kent | Luke Nolen | – | 2 | 56kg | $7 |
| 2 | 6 | SILENT SEDITION | Andrew Noblet | Craig Williams | 0.4L | 5 | 56kg | $4F |
| 3 | 7 | CâEST BEAU LA VIE | Leon Macdonald & Andrew Gluyas | Jason Holder | 1.2L | 10 | 56kg | $12 |
| 4 | 4 | SACRED EYE | David Hayes & Tom Dabernig | Dwayne Dunn | 1.8L | 13 | 56kg | $16 |
| 5 | 2 | ARCADIA DREAM | Grant Williams | William Pike | 2.4L | 16 | 56kg | $7.50 |
| 6 | 3 | BELIEVE | Anthony Cummings | Kerrin McEvoy | 2.8L | 11 | 56kg | $8 |
| 7 | 12 | BELUGA BLUE | Leon Macdonald & Andrew Gluyas | Clare Lindop | 3.2L | 8 | 56kg | $19 |
| 8 | 5 | FIRST IMPRESSIONS (NZ) | Grant Williams | Glenn Smith | 3.4L | 9 | 56kg | $26 |
| 9 | 10 | COMPRENDE | Phillip Stokes | Dom Tourneur | 4.6L | 12 | 56kg | $41 |
| 10 | 1 | PASADENA GIRL (NZ) | David Hayes & Tom Dabernig | Damian Lane | 5.5L | 4 | 56kg | $10 |
| 11 | 9 | ASINARA | John O’Shea | Glen Boss | 6.8L | 14 | 56kg | $13 |
| 12 | 8 | BENGAL CAT | John Sadler | Thomas Sadler (a) | 6.9L | 15 | 56kg | $9.50 |
| 13 | 15 | THE GREY FLASH | Robbie Laing | Joe Bowditch | 7.4L | 1 | 56kg | $101 |
| 14 | 13 | JACQUIâS JOY (NZ) | Mitchell Beer & Max Hinton | Mark Zahra | 8.2L | 7 | 56kg | $51 |
| 15 | 11 | LOPARTEGA | Doug Harrison | Ibrahim Gundogdu | 9.9L | 3 | 56kg | $31 |
| 16 | 16 | RIVERINA BELLA | John & Chris Ledger | Craig Newitt | 10.2L | 6 | 56kg | $51 |