A full week delay raised the surprise possibility that sensational New Zealand filly Orcherstral could have changed targets and started in the delayed ATC Derby rather than the ATC Oaks she will now start in this Saturday.
“We would have definitely considered the Derby had the whole meeting gone back a week rather than keeping her here an extra week to start in the Oaks,” co-trainer Roger James told the Herald.
That move could have cost futures punters right around Australasia tens of thousands of dollars as Orchestral has been heavily backed to win the Oaks and had she changed races to the Derby almost all of that money would have gone to the bookies.
As it was the Derby was run and won by Riff Rocket, who completed the VRC-ATC Derby double for hero jockey James McDonald.
With that drama behind, Orchestral thrilled James with a gallop in Sydney yesterday and he couldn’t be happier with the filly as she looks to end her campaign this Saturday unbeaten in 2024.
Orchestral is now as short as $1.70 to win the Oaks although she will have to take on VRC Oaks winner Zardozi, who was to have started in the Derby but was scratched on Saturday morning because of the storm.
Orchestral will headline a strong Kiwi team on Saturday with Levin Classic winner Quintessa also in the Oaks and Campionessa coming from Victoria to Sydney for a Group 1 mares’ race.
With the weather in Sydney hot on Saturday and yesterday and the long-term forecast good, the second day of The Championships could be run on a good track.
What price for baby Winx?
The daughter of wonder mare Winx that will be sold today has been the talk of yearling sales week in Sydney.
The question everybody is asking is: how much for the filly by former champion galloper and proven stallion Pierro?
The yearling filly has been the centre of a huge marketing campaign and had her cute little head plastered all over the mainstream media, with some guestimating she could make A$5 million.
That is an awful lot of money for a filly, as opposed to a colt who could develop into a $20-$30 million stallion prospect, but the market for well-bred fillies is red hot.
While the Riverside auditorium will be packed for her sale this afternoon the reality is only a handful of bidders have a chance of actually buying the filly.
Fillies with this sort of breeding and hype can become trophies for some big-spending buyers and if two or three of those get it in their heads today that they will refuse to be beaten, then anything could happen.
When that much money and ego meet trying to estimate a price is tricky as $3 million could become $4 million or even the much-quoted $5 million in one red-hot minute.
No matter who eventually signs their name in the sales docket, it is going to make for fascinating theatre.
Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald’s Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world’s biggest horse racing carnivals.
