Memphis does it in style

IF you wanted a Cinderella story, it arrived in spades in tonight's $200,000 John Gibson Memorial NSW Oaks at Tabcorp Park Menangle.

That's because the winner of this classic race for three-year-old fillies was Stylish Memphis, after a superb drive from champion New Zealand horseman Mark Purdon.

This filly had run an incredible 18 second-placings in Group races without being able to break through, which must be some sort of world record. And one that was acknowledged by race sponsor Jackie Gibson while presenting the trophy to owner Wayne Higgs, who also bred the filly.

It was a proud Higgs who took to the podium to acknowledge the effort of the daughter of Bettors Delight, who surrendered to an early challenge from Dr Susan, who took the front after a helter-skelter lead time of 53.5 seconds over the 2400m journey before the speed backed off with a 31.1 second split.

As soon as that occurred Purdon took off on the Mark Jones-trained filly and quickly retook the lead before going on to score a stylish 2.4m win over Our Beaujolais (James Herbertson) with Maajida (Greg Sugars) another two metres away in third place, just ahead of the tiring Dr Susan.

The winner rated 1.54 and went to the line in style to make up for a horrific week for Purdon, which saw him lose Chase Auckland and Self Assured from his Miracle Mile hopes following setbacks to both his star duo.

"She was just travelling so well throughout the run, I was feeling pretty good turning for home," grinned Purdon.

Club Menangle