Next stop, the Victoria Oaks!

The big stage is clearly in the paths of Ladies In Red and Tough Tilly, who look bound for great battles beginning with the October 9 Pryde’s EasiFeed Victoria Oaks after clearing out to run one-two at Ballarat on Saturday night.

In David Moran’s hands, Ladies In Red soon briskly made her draw advantage count over her Emma Stewart-trained stablemate, cruising to the front while Tough Tilly settled in the running until emerging with a tick over a lap to go.

Second-up and with the shortest way home she was never threatened by first-up Tough Tilly, crashing the line in a 53.5s last 800 metres to remind of her class.

“She was really sharp tonight,” Moran said. “Last start she obviously was first run back and she was a little bit doughy and I didn’t bust her too much.

“We let her know we were there up the straight this time and just sharpen her up for the Oaks heats.”

Moran said she had “certainly filled out a little bit” on her two-year-old season, when she won nine of her 10 starts, with the only miss an outstanding second to Tough Tilly in the New Year’s Eve Vicbred Super Series final.

That has the reinsman supremely confident for the forthcoming Victoria Oaks.

“If she finds a race like this when she finds the front reasonably comfortably, it’s nearly mathematically impossible to beat them really,” Moran said.

“As you see like Tough Tilly did in the (Vicbred Super Series) final, it’s just a matter of draws and runs and lead times and things like that that make a big difference. It would be a great race to see them both draw (gates) 11 and 12.”