Ohope Wins: Superstar staying filly to skip NZ Derby and join Chris Waller stable

Ohope Wins smashed her rivals in the New Zealand Oaks in what will be her last New Zealand race. Photo / Kenton Wright

New Zealand racing’s superstar staying filly Ohope Wins will miss next week’s $1.25 million Trackside NZ Derby and head to Australia to be trained by Chris Waller.

The Matamata filly was odds-on to win Saturday week’s classic after a stunning demolition job in last Saturday’s $1m Al Basti Equiworld NZ Oaks at Ellerslie, where she came from near last in the hands of Joe Doyle to smash her opposition.

But that will be her last run for trainers Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott as Ohope Wins will cross the Tasman without racing here again so she can chase a Group 1 victory there.

Adding an Australian Group 1 to her resume would greatly enhance Ohope Wins’s future broodmare value, always a telling factor when fillies are owned by breeding giants like Yulong, which only purchased Ohope Wins six weeks ago.

“We were so thrilled with what she achieved last Saturday and can’t thank Lance, Andrew, their staff and Joe Doyle enough,” said Yulong’s chief operating officer Sam Fairgray.

“The reality is her next big target has to be an Australian Group 1 and we have decided to get her into Chris Waller’s care as early as we can to let her settle in to his stable.

“Then, all going well, she will be aimed at the Vinery and the Australian Oaks to give her two shots a Group 1 this autumn.

“Mr Zhang [Yulong’s owner] picked this filly out himself after watching her race and we are all tremendously excited about what her future holds.”

The A$750,000 ($888,000) Vinery is over 2000m at Rosehill on March 28 while the A$1m Australian Oaks is at Randwick on April 11 over 2400m, the same distance as last Saturday’s Oaks at Ellerslie.

While there can some times be question marks over just how far some modern-day Oaks winners will go further in their careers, Ohope Wins has a genuine stamp of class and would not only have been expected to win the Derby had she started but would have been favourite against the older horses in the Bonecrusher NZ Stakes at weight-for-age on Saturday week.

Instead she will head to Australia where safely through the Vinery/Oaks campaign she would have a myriad of weight-for-age or staying options next season.

Co-trainer O’Sullivan was pragmatic about the loss, realising it is a reality at the top end of racing and says jockey Doyle will now partner stablemate Yamato Satona in the Derby, in which they will also run Avondale Guineas placegetter Genki.

One of the other reasons Ohope Wins will head to Sydney early is Yulong also own her Oaks runner-up Autumn Glory, who is now favourite for the New Zealand Derby with Fairgray confirming a late entry will be paid to secure the filly a start in the classic.

By splitting the pair, Yulong give themselves a chance at achieving dual goals, a first Group 1 for Autumn Glory in the Derby as well as that Australian Group 1 for Ohope Wins.

Co-trainer Robert Wellwood confirmed Autumn Glory has come through Saturday’s race well and is ready to press on to the Derby as is stablemate and Avondale Guineas runner-up Road To Paris.

When news of Ohope Wins’ movements broke on Tuesday morning, the TAB took her out of the Derby market which is now headed by Autumn Glory at $3.50 while Road To Paris and That’s Gold share the $4.20 second line.

Ohope Wins is now into $2.80 to win the Australian Oaks and also favourite for the Vinery.

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.