The $700,000 Group I BRC Queensland Oaks (2200m) at Eagle Farm saw last start G1 Australasian Oaks winner Panova trying to enhance her record further, but she came up short when going down by a length and a quarter to progressive filly Fireball Miss.
Trained by Ciaron Maher and ridden by Declan Bates, Fireball Miss has been the form filly of the Brisbane Winter Carnival showing improvement with every run.
Fourth in the Listed BRC Princess Stakes and third in the Listed Gold Coast Bracelet, she flagged her staying potential when winning the Group II BRC Roses Stakes (2000m).
The daughter of Bivouac had to extend another furlong to win the Oaks, but she made it look easy, cruising to the front with a furlong to run and holding off the challenge from Panova to claim victory.
"It's a super result. The Bennett Racing team pick really nice horses, they've got a great record and I'm thrilled to train for them. This filly has really thrived up here at Tony and Cav's place, so I can't thank them enough. It was a brilliant ride by Dec, we were very confident today and she's got the job done,” said Ciaron Maher.
"Year in year out, if you target a race like this with a filly like this you can get the right result. We had the option of going to Adelaide, but we thought we'd put her on ice and bring her up here.
“You can see how well she looks, and I think she's a filly for the future. She had a pretty sweet run and you can see what a beautiful action she's got. When she matures fully she's going to be a nice mare."
Declan Bates has ridden Fireball Miss in her past three starts and was thrilled to take the prize in her grand final.
"I actually wasn't super happy in the run. She began OK but it was a little bit messy and she didn't relax as well as she normally does. When you're stepping out to 2200 metres, you really need them to switch off but she never felt like she was fully relaxed,” he said.
“It didn't matter, because she just built through her gears and put them away. So she's a nice filly and she's very much on the up. She's clearly got a good engine."
Fireball Miss was a $140,000 Inglis Easter purchase from Vinery Stud for Bennett Racing and has the overall record of three wins from seven starts with prizemoney just shy of $680,000.
A half-sister to group I SA Derby winner Femminile, she was bred by Simon Delzoppo's Aralet Pty Ltd and is the second foal and second Group I winner from stakes-placed Pierro mare Femme Fireball, a half-sister to Group III winner Rock.
Femme Fireball was sold at the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale last year for $900,000 to Boomer Bloodstock (FBAA) /Paul Willetts Bloodstock and is now with Three Bridges Thoroughbreds and produced a filly for them last spring by Anamoe.
That filly has been entered for the Inglis Great Southern Weanling Sale next week as Lot 406.
Also at MM National last year, Femminile sold for $1.5million to Yulong and was covered by Lucky Vega (IRE) in her first season at stud, so there is quite a bit going on in this family which has made Fireball Miss an outstanding investment for her owners!
Fireball Miss is the second Group I winner for Bivouac joining his brilliant sprinting colt Beiwacht.
Bivouac stands at Darley NSW this spring at a fee of $33,000.
