The $1million Group I ATC Australian Oaks (2400m) at Randwick on Saturday features a showdown between VRC Oaks winner Treasurethe Moment and New Zealand Oaks winner Leica Lucy and for the Yulong homebred Treasurethe Moment, a victory could put her in the picture with Lady Shenandoah to be crowned Champion Australian 3YO Filly.
Click here to see 5 generation pedigrees for the Oaks contenders.
Lady Shenandoah has won three G1 races this season, starting last spring with the ATC Flight Stakes and following up in the autumn with the ATC Surround Stakes and ATC Coolmore Classic against the older mares.
Treasurethe Moment won the VRC Oaks last spring and the ATC Vinery Stud Stakes last start, so is shooting for her third G1 of the season.
While we look towards the Oaks this weekend, it’s good to take a look back at the recent winners of this iconic race and it’s a bit of a sad story with four of the past six winners having died prematurely.
2019 winner Verry Elleegant (Zed)went on to win both the Caulfield an Melbourne Cups and was crowned Australian Horse of the Year in 2020/2021. She raced in Europe at the end of her career and retired to stud in the Northern Hemisphere, but died in tragic circumstances losing her first foal in the process by Sea the Stars.
2020 winner Colette (Hallowed Crown) was a homebred for Godolphin that also won the Golden Eagle at four and added the Group I VRC Empire Rose Stakes for good measure. She went to the Northern Hemisphere to start her stud career with a mating to Dubawi and returned home to produce a colt who is now a yearling that has been named Hierarchy. She produced another colt by Exceed and excel last year, but died shortly after.
2021 winner Hungry Heart (Frankel) was the first Australian G1 winner bred and raced by Yulong and retired to stud in 2022 producing two colts by Written Tycoon in 2023 and 2024 before she too passed away. Yulong sold the first of those colts at Inglis Easter earlier this week for $1.25 million to Waller Racing/ Mulcaster Bloodstock.
2022 winner El Patroness (Shamus Award) did not make it to a stud career as the mare suffered a heart attack in the spring of 2023 after leaving the swimming pool at Flemington.
Which brings us to the past two winners of this race in Pennyweka (NZ) (Satono Aladdin (Jpn) and Autumn Angel (The Autumn Sun), who came from very different backgrounds to win the same race and are both now in the Yulong broodmare band in Victoria.
Pennyweka won both the New Zealand and Australian Oaks and was bought by Yulong at the 2024 Inglis Chairman’s Sale for $1.6million, while Autumn Angel was bought by Yulong from her own Inglis Digital stand-alone sale for $1.225million.
Both mares were covered last spring in their first season at stud by Yulong based Saudi Cup winner Panthalassa (Jpn), who was advertised at a fee of $16,500 last season.
2018 winner Unforgotten (Fastnet Rock) is also in Yulong hands as they purchased her for $2.75million at the 2020 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale. Unforgotten has produced four foals so far including a yearling filly by Lucky Vega (IRE) that passed in at Inglis Easter this week and she had another filly by Pierata last spring before visiting Written Tycoon on a very late cover.
