Pam Gerard came close to picking up a three-year-old major across the Tasman this season with Savaglee, and the Matamata trainer is back with another rising star in pursuit of Saturday’s A$1 million Gr.1 Australian Oaks (2400m) at Randwick.
Savaglee finished a close-up second to Feroce at Flemington in the Gr.1 Australian Guineas (1600m) last month, and on this occasion it will be the turn of Dubai Gold, who pushed Leica Lucy right to the wire in the Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m) after placing in the Gr.2 Lowland Stakes (2100m).
The outstanding performance was well-received by her connections, who opted to pay the late nomination fee and head to Australia where she will race as Dubai Goldrush in the time-honoured fillies’ feature.
“She came through the Oaks really well, so we thought we would chuck a late nom in and have a throw at the stumps,” Gerard said.
“Way back when Mike and Paul (Moroney) bought her she was always going to be an Oaks filly, and she just took a while to click on and work it all out. When she finally got that maiden win, she went on and went massive in the Lowland, she was three and four wide the whole trip.
“We knew if she could improve five or six lengths on that she’d be right in the Oaks, and she was. We’ve been happy with her since and I think with these fillies, if you get them right, you keep going.”
The filly flew out of New Zealand on Tuesday and has arrived safely in Sydney, with the main portion of her work already completed.
“She hasn’t done a lot since the Oaks, it hasn’t been a long gap between runs and a bit of travel,” Gerard said.
“We are a little bit dictated to by the flights, so we’ve worked around that, but we did all our work at home, as we did with Savaglee.
“She’s come over well and is just ticking over into the race.”
On a seven-run winning streak, Treasurethe Moment is the odds-on filly to beat on Saturday, with Leica Lucy the second-elect at $5. With Mark Zahra in the saddle, Dubai Goldrush currently sits a $16 chance on the TAB Market. – LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
