Elegant ready to out-stay her rivals in $150,000 Victoria Oaks

Harness racing’s Geoff Webster is confident heat winner Elegant is one runner who won’t be searching for air at the end of a grueling 2760-metre journey in Saturday night’s (Oct. 8) $150,000 Group 1 Pryde’s Easifeed Victoria Oaks Final.

The daughter of Somebeachsomewhere was strong charging along the sprint lane in last week’s qualifier and Webster believes the filly will relish the conditions of the race.

“She is a nice filly and staying is her go,” Webster said, a belief that had been reinforced by her driver, champion reinsman Anthony Butt.

“Anthony told me two months ago that she is a filly who will be ideally suited in a race like the Victoria Oaks.”

That moment is near and Webster isn’t fazed Elegant is a $17 chance behind the Emma Stewart trained Encipher ($1.95 fav), heat winner Just Hope ($6.50) and Amore Vita ($6.50).

“She won easily against a lot of these fillies in the no race at Melton about six weeks ago,” he said.

“I probably should have taken her up to Brisbane for the Queensland Oaks, but looking at it now she has a busy campaign in front of her including the (Victoria) Oaks, the Breeders Crown, the Southern Cross Series in Adelaide and the Vicbred (Super) Series,” he said.

Despite her favorable gate two draw, Webster concedes it will be a difficult task for Elegant to find the early lead.

“We probably won’t be able to cross Relentless Me off the pole, so we will end up two or three back in the running line and that’s fine because she should be able to run into it when some of the others might be getting tired,” he said.

Encipher, one of five Stewart-trained Oaks starters, was narrowly beaten into third place in her heat after sitting parked and is likely to press forward from her front row alley.

Nathan Purdon’s Amore Vita, who has been placed in both the NSW and Queensland Oaks, was beaten into fourth place in her heat, however, her inside second row draw could map her with an economical run along the pegs behind Relentless Me.

The $150,000 Victoria Oaks final is at 10.06pm, race nine on the 11-race program.

For complete race fields, click here.

by John Dunne, for HRV